


A Little Mishap

by Layora88



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Comfort, Established Relationship, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Smut, Hydra, Insecure Bucky, Loki meddles, Lots of it, M/M, Magic, Mention of past rape/non-con, Merfolk Mention, My limited knowledge of Octopi, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Sorry Not Sorry, Steve's Fear of Water, Tentacles, Tony's Arc Reactor, kraken - Freeform, magical transformation, not descriptive, octopus bucky
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 19:27:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23970805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Layora88/pseuds/Layora88
Summary: There's just a little mishap when Loki decides to meddle, so not a mishap at all really. Loki casts a spell and poor Bucky is on the receiving end. He's transformed and now there's only one way to break the curse and he isn't even close to ready to tell anyone what it is.Guess he'll be stuck like this a while then. n_~
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 30
Kudos: 53





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Uh, this is not something I've really delved far into before? I've been sitting on this work for like...two years now and I'm trying to finish a bunch of stories that I've started so now this one has been edited and is no longer on the back burner. I have more than the first chapter written right now and I will upload more in the next few days.
> 
> Rated E for later chapters. I will update tags as I see fit.

“Uh…” Tony said, looking very confused and a little hesitant as he stared down at his phone.

There was a text message from Thor, which, granted, was weird enough; but the message was far weirder. “Come at once if convenient. If inconvenient, come all the same,” Tony read aloud, his brows furrowing as he looked at the screen.

He shook his head a little as if to clear it before getting up from his rolling stool, sighing deeply as he pocketed his phone. He’d been busy in the lab for most of the morning and as such, hadn’t interacted with the Team yet today. He wondered what was up, seeing at it was only just past 9am, he didn’t think they could have gotten into too much trouble yet.

“Alright then. Jarvis? Where am I going exactly?” He asked with a slight huff before pinching the bridge of his nose as he strode towards the elevator, wiping his grease stained hand against his work jeans and effectively adding to the dozens of other stains upon them.

“It would appear that your presence is required in your suite…more specifically, in the master bath,” Jarvis intoned and Tony swore that the AI sounded a bit perturbed.

Tony’s brows furrowed as he stepped into the lift and glanced towards the nearest camera lens as the doors slid shut. He couldn’t help looking at the lens a tad incredulously. “Should I be worried? I feel like I should be worried,” Tony muttered, with only slight apprehension colouring his voice.

Jarvis was quiet for a beat and just as the elevator started to ascend, the silence broke. “I would bring along your patience and…perhaps try and keep a level head,” Jarvis advised him solemnly.

And now Tony was definitely curious and most certainly more apprehensive about what he was about to walk into. Arching a brow, he simply nodded and took a deep breath as he arrived at the penthouse. Upon stepping out into the living room, however, he heard three very distinct things.

_One_: the unmistakable sound of what appeared to be most of the Team conversing loudly and very animatedly. _Two_: there appeared to be water sloshing around from somewhere therein. And _Three_: the very disheartening sound of Bucky’s timid voice trying in vain to get the group to settle.

And it was all coming from the master bathroom, just as Jarvis had said. He frowned, brows creasing in concern and confusion as he started to make his way towards the odd culmination of sounds. Stepping through the doors to the bedroom, he caught sight of the bathroom door wide open with Bruce standing in the doorway, back set to him.

Carefully, Tony approached and peered over the scientist’s shoulder to see what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately, he was faced with Natasha, Clint, Wanda and Jane’s backs as they all crowded around the obscenely large jacuzzi tub he’d insisted on upgrading to last summer and so he saw nothing else.

As he shifted, however, Bruce realized he was there and quickly cleared his throat, drawing the attention of their four Team members who were gathered around the jacuzzi. Immediately the four turned, Bruce as well, to settle their collective gazes on Tony.

And oh dear…they looked _worried_.

“Uh, hey guys…I got a bit of a cryptic text from Thor…which, okay, yes, isn’t all that shocking. But I gotta’ ask…why are you in my bathroom?” He asked curiously and now that he was looking over each of his teammates, he realized that he didn’t see Bucky anywhere, despite having thought he’d heard his voice only a minute or so before.

Bruce cleared his throat from beside him and Tony looked to him curiously. “There’s…been a bit of an incident,” His friend said, _very_ gently.

“An incident,” Tony repeated calmly and now he was getting worried, because Bruce wasn’t looking just worried like the rest of them, he appeared _nervous_ and a nervous Bruce was never a good thing; especially if they didn’t want a surprise visit from the Hulk.

“Yeah…” Natasha murmured from across the room, drawing Tony’s attention.

“O_kay_-“ Tony said slowly, his eyes flitting over the other Team members carefully, checking them over for injury.

He took a deep breath, his brows furrowing even deeper when he saw no one was injured and the bathroom too appeared to be in working order. “I-I thought I heard Bucky-is he here?” He asked nervously, shifting from one foot to the other.

A soft, very dejected sigh reached his ears then and he perked up a bit at the sad sound. “Bucky?” Tony asked curiously, taking a tentative step towards the small congregation by the tub.

“Yeah, Tony,” Bucky sighed from somewhere behind the wall that their Team was steadily forming, their backs now firmly to the jacuzzi.

Tony frowned, still unable to see his boyfriend. “Okay, so this…_incident_-“ Tony started. “Everyone’s okay…_right?_” He asked apprehensively, swallowing down the lump in his throat as he continued to look at his friends warily.

The silence then was deafening and Tony tried to keep his heart from leaping into his throat as he took yet another step towards the group, his gaze shifting everywhere in an attempt to see Bucky who was clearly hiding behind them. Natasha watched him, but made no move to well, _move_ and Tony met her gaze nervously when the other three started shifting on their feet.

“Everyone’s okay, Tony,” She said gently and after a beat, “There was just a bit of a mishap with Loki and James.”

Tony’s eyes widened, all rational thought leaving him and he quickly strode forwards and pushed past the makeshift wall their friends made at the mention of Loki. Loki was troublesome from day one and although he’d stopped trying to take over or destroy Earth or Asgard by now, he still tended to be quite the nuisance for the Team; always showing up and causing a ruckus just because he wanted to have a bit of fun.

Thor insisted that his pranks were harmless and yeah, most of the time they were, but on the off chance it wasn’t harmless this time, Tony was feeling way past nervous and borderline manic as he finally pressed past their friends standing guard over the tub.

His breath caught and he stared in absolute shock and disbelief at his boyfriend when he finally did manage to push past them. Because there was Bucky in the jacuzzi, gaze cast dejectedly off to the side as he sat shoulder deep in the water with…a slowly shifting mass of dark tentacles spreading out and pooled beneath him.

He looked not only uncomfortable, but incredibly distressed, his lips drawn in a grimace and his face clearly pinched in discomfort. Tony’s gaze raked over his boyfriend from head to…_well_, right down to the tips of his tentacles. Tony’s eyes were wide and his mouth had dropped open somewhere in the process and he just couldn’t stop s_taring._

Bucky’s dark hair was wet and hung down around his jaw, a bit shorter than Tony remembered it being earlier that morning, actually. His skin looked a little paler than usual too, slightly off. And now that Tony was really focusing on it, the man’s skin appeared to be almost grey in tone and the texture looked different too.

There was some kind of raised ridges that protruded from the man’s temples, barely noticeable beneath his mess of hair, but Tony could vaguely discern almost a mountainous set of bumps along his scalp disappearing into his thick wavy hair. He swallowed hard and tried desperately to keep his mouth from falling open once again in shock.

He finally managed to get his brain back online when he realized he’d been staring for far too long and he took a deep, shaky breath before he willed his brain to somehow string together something that resembled a sentence.

“This-this is _not okay-_“ Tony quickly stated, gesturing towards his boyfriend frantically with both of his hands. “He’s clearly _not _okay!” Tony nearly shouted, a wave of panic washing over him as his eyes continued to take in the sight of Bucky.

But then Bucky was cringing and shrinking back further into the water, still not looking up at him and Tony stepped closer to the tub, trying to catch his eye in vain. “It’s temporary, Tony. We _swear_,” Jane interjected from somewhere beside him then. “It’s a spell, Loki put a spell on him,” She continued quickly, now wringing her hands in front of her as she watched him nervously.

Tony growled and somehow _this_ managed to draw Bucky’s attention. The brunet looked up at his boyfriend nervously, brows creased, lips pulled in an awful grimace, face still pinched in unmistakable misery. “_Tony-_“ Bucky whispered, trying to calm his boyfriend’s clearly rising temper, because he knew how Tony could get and he really didn’t want the genius to go into a full-blown meltdown of epic Tony Stark proportions.

Tony shook his head vehemently, taking a clearly very strained breath as his eyes continued to scan over his boyfriend. “Why did he put a spell on you?” Tony nearly whimpered in frustration, moving to grip the edge of the jacuzzi as he met Bucky’s gaze.

Bucky frowned then and let his gaze drop back to the water between them, clearly not wanting to give him an answer. “He was being a shit disturber, meddling again,” Natasha said with a deep sigh as she moved to sit at the edge of the tub a little ways away, looking between the genius and Bucky.

Tony willed himself to take another deep breath as he nodded, not happy about that answer, but accepting it as fact for the time being. His eyes were still fixed on Bucky and his unusual form, taking note of the fact that the man was shirtless, for one. Which was incredibly rare seeing as Bucky usually went out of his way to cover up no matter the weather, uncomfortable with his scars and the metal arm and he shook his head in disbelief as he saw the slits on both sides of Bucky’s neck that looked a lot like gills.

Momentarily distracted by the way they looked, glistening with water droplets from the bath Bucky was currently immersed in, he almost missed the way Bucky’s lower body twitched, the tentacles that had been spread and nearly still beneath him shifting as Bucky let his gaze slide over the dark mass hiding beneath the surface of the water.

“Some sick joke, ain’t it,” Bucky bit out, his voice cracked and full of an emotion none had heard since some of his early days in the Tower: _bitterness_.

He shook his head in frustration and shrunk back further into the water, now only his head visible as he moved to the far side of the tub, shoulders disappearing beneath the surface again. “Figured my body wasn’t disgusting enough, had to go and truly make me into one of Hydra’s _pets_-“ He spat angrily, eyes narrowing menacingly into the water and glaring at the mass of tentacles pooled therein.

Tony’s eyes widened and he gripped the edge of the tub until his knuckles were turning bone white. It took all of his self-restraint to keep from barrelling into the tub and strangling his boyfriend in that instant. “_What did you just say?_” Tony said lowly; his voice laced with clear anger, eyes blazing with a heat not many had ever truly seen, nor been on the receiving end of.

Bucky shifted uncomfortably and dared a glance at the man and really wished he hadn’t. He cringed and tried to shrink back even farther, but Tony wasn’t about to take that. In one very calculated movement, Tony was vaulting over the waist height edge of the tub and into the warm water, clothes, shoes and all.

Bucky’s eyes widened and he flattened himself against the other edge of the tub, his tentacles curling up under himself nervously as he tried to make himself appear smaller. Tony growled low in his throat as he came towards him, still standing waist deep in the water, shoes, jeans and t-shirt soaked right through.

“Don’t you _ever_ say that kind of shit about yourself again-“ Tony seethed. “_Do you hear me?_” He asked sharply, barely managing to contain his anger and he wondered if _he_ was on the verge of Hulking-out himself, never mind Bruce.

“You aren’t a _pet, _you aren’t _Hydra’s, _you aren’t even a _part_ of Hydra. Even that arm you have now isn’t _their_ creation, it’s _ours,_” Tony said firmly.

“_You_ and _I_ designed it _together_, James,” Tony said slowly, but with no less heat in his voice, in his eyes.

Bucky swallowed past the lump in his throat as he watched his boyfriend and slowly he nodded. “Okay, Tony…I-I’m sorry,” Bucky said, his shoulders slumping and his face falling, losing it’s pinched misery and gaining a shit-ton of guilt.

It definitely wasn’t any better. Tony frowned deeply and let out a sigh as he stepped closer towards him, but Bucky shied away again, drawing farther in on himself. “Bucky,” Tony said gently, trying to reach a hand out to comfort him.

But Bucky wasn’t looking at him anymore and Tony found this to be incredibly disheartening. Bucky was a tactile person, always hugging and wanting to touch and the fact that he hadn’t let Tony even get close enough to touch him, wasn’t lost on the genius.

He worried that all the months Steve and he had managed to get Bucky to open up and explore his need for physical contact-not only in an intimate way, which, he was still very much struggling with and learning to deal with, but just in a friendly sort of way for comfort and reassurance-would all have been for nothing because of Loki and his stupid spell.

Tony frowned, his brows knitting together as he worried at his lower lip, still watching Bucky carefully. He watched as his boyfriend seemed to try and think of how to phrase whatever he wanted to say and his heart felt like it clenched at the brunet’s next words.

“I don’t-I don’t think you should get too close,” Bucky told him after a beat and Tony’s frown only intensified.

His shoulders sagged, his clothes starting to feel incredibly uncomfortable now that he was soaked through, but at least the water was warm. “Why not?” Tony asked softly, moving to kneel down in the water not far from Bucky, his hands resting against the tops of his thighs beneath he water.

Bucky couldn’t hide his grimace and coiled his tentacles away from him as much as he possibly could. Tony’s gaze was momentarily drawn to the movement and he purposefully shifted a bit closer, still not touching, however.

“They-it could be _dangerous. I’m_ dangerous like this, Tony,” Bucky admitted and before Tony could even open his mouth to shoot that train of thought square in the foot, Natasha was speaking up.

“Don’t you start with that bullshit, Barnes,” Natasha threatened coolly, reaching into the water to flick some in his direction.

Bucky glanced over at the red-head as the water hit his face and he blinked before shaking his head. “You don’t know that I’m not dangerous,” He said quickly, anger starting to war in hisgrey-blues.

“They-“ He shook his head in frustration. “These-_things-_are strong, Natalia,” He challenged, anger clearly starting to get the better of him.

“Pure muscle, actually,” Tony told him then with a casual shrug, clearly feigning nonchalance. “I bet you could actually kill a man with them…_if _you wanted,” Tony told him carefully, meeting and holding his boyfriend’s gaze with an intensity Bucky wasn’t sure he was capable of holding for very long.

Bucky shifted, his tentacles practically twitching with nerves with how uncomfortable he was feeling at the moment. “I-“ Bucky started, but Tony simply narrowed his eyes before speaking again.

“But you _wouldn’t,_” Tony said firmly, never breaking his gaze.

Bucky chest tightened and he nodded jerkily, knowing it to be true. He hadn’t been able to go on any missions with the Team since coming back to Steve over a year and a half ago. He’d not been able to even hold a gun or a knife without shaking and didn’t think he could bring himself to harm another soul; except for Hydra, for obvious reasons.

He knew he’d never intentionally harm someone, not now, not ever again, least of all someone he loved and cared for so deeply. His heart clenched at the thought, his chest expanding as he breathed in deeply…through the slits across the sides of his ribs and the matching set on his neck now hidden beneath the water.

Tony’s eyes shifted towards the movement of his chest and he tilted his head curiously. “Are you breathing under water right now?” Tony asked, momentarily distracted.

Bucky was extremely thankful for the distraction and he nodded hesitantly, incredibly thankful in that moment that Tony was a man of science and was always rather curious. Little did he realize, this was going to come back and bite him in the ass sooner rather than later.

“_Huh-_“ Tony mumbled curiously, but then Jane was clearing her throat from behind him.

“James is actually capable of breathing under water and staying under for very long periods of time, just like traditional octopi,” She told them gently.

“Oh-” Tony breathed, turning to look at her and subsequently the others who had all stepped closer to the tub, nearly having forgotten they were even there.

“So uh…someone want to give me the run down of what the hell happened and how the hell we fix this?” Tony said, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose as he started to lose some of his steam.

Jane grimaced and nodded as she glanced over to Bruce and then Natasha before meeting Tony’s gaze. “Yeah…um…about that…Thor’s working on it and as for what happened-“ Jane said glancing between Natasha and Bucky nervously.

Tony’s gaze flitted between the pair and he crossed his arms over his chest. “_Well?_” He prompted, clearly growing impatient.

“It’s a curse,” Bucky said carefully.

Tony rolled his eyes, making an awful face. “I _hate _magic-“ He muttered, trying not to let the pit in his stomach get any wider as he took a deep breath.

“Is there a way to lift it?” He asked in frustration.

“There is,” Natasha admitted, glancing towards Bucky.

But the brunet shifted uncomfortably and averted his gaze once again. Tony turned his attention to the brunet and waved a hand towards him in question, hoping to prompt him for an answer.

“It’s…_complicated_-“ Bucky whispered after a beat, realizing he wasn’t going to be able to _not_ give some kind of an answer.

To which, Tony let out a very put upon sigh. “So you’re telling me, that you know how to fix this and you’re not going to _tell us?_” Tony said gently, but there was clear exasperation in his tone as he regarded the brunet before him.

“It’s not that simple,” Bucky said, growing a touch irritated as he crossed his arms nervously in front of his chest, still not meeting Tony’s gaze.

“Oh I don’t doubt it,” Tony agreed with a huff.

“But if you know how to fix this, at least tell us so we can try and help get you back to normal,” Tony sighed.

“I can’t-” Bucky admitted. “I’m sorry, Tony. I just…I can’t,” He explained, shoulders slumping in defeat.

And in that moment, Tony learned two things. _One_: he knew that Bucky wasn’t one to back down from a fight…like, _ever_ and the fact that he seemed to be giving up right now was just a huge red flag. And _Two_: whatever was going to help break the curse was something that he was clearly extremely uncomfortable with discussing, especially if he wasn’t even trying to give him a hint as to how to solve it.

It left him feeling that there was definitely a lot more to whatever had caused Loki to put this curse on him and he was going to find out one way or another. So, Tony studied him for a long moment and then nodded slowly as he apparently made up his mind about something.

“Okay, love. So…you’re going to be like this for a while, is that what you’re telling me?” Tony asked gently.

Bucky lifted his gaze then and met Tony’s sympathetic stare as he nodded. “Yeah,” He agreed.

Tony simply nodded, a tentative smile tugging at his lips then. “Okay, babe. Then I’d better get to work on building you a bigger space because somehow I don’t think you’re going to be content in that tub for very long and a pool just isn’t going to cut it either,” He said matter of factly.

Bucky’s eyes grew very round then, almost imploring. “_Tony_, you don’t have to build me anything, I’ll be perfectly fine here or in one of the pools,” He said quickly, but Tony was already shaking his head as he stood and walked towards the edge of the tub.

Bucky watched as he hauled himself up over the edge-not bothering to use the steps-and landed with a very wet slap against the tiled floor. He grimaced as he looked down at himself and let out a sigh before he started trying to wring out his clothes all over the floor…while still wearing them.

“Nice try, Buckaroo,” Tony singsonged as he toed off his sopping wet shoes with a chuckle, but then he froze, seeming to remember something and he turned to look at Bucky.

Bucky watched as Tony’s eyes widened almost comically so. “_Oh my God. _Did-did anyone tell _Steve?_” Tony asked nervously, his voice rising in a squeak.

And it was at about this time that three things happened. _One_: the elevator chime for the penthouse floor dinged to announce someone’s arrival. _Two_: Wanda’s mumble of, “I think Thor may have sent him a text message as well?” Reached their ears. And _Three_: there was Steve’s beautiful-albeit slightly out of breath-voice, coming from the bedroom.

And then Steve was barrelling into the bathroom, breathing heavily and wearing a pair of track pants and a very nearly see-through white t-shirt that appeared to be soaked through with sweat. Clearly he’d just gotten back from his morning run and he was carrying a very large grocery bag along with him.

Tony couldn’t help shifting uncomfortably in front of the jacuzzi, wondering just how this was going to go down. Steve was getting well adjusted to the future,_ sure,_ but this was…it wasn’t exactly _normal_ by future standards either, even in their line of work.

The blond smiled nervously when he got a look at the occupants of the room and his smile slowly began to falter when he took in the Team’s collective expressions of clear discomfort.

“Uh…Thor sent me a message…said I should come back to the Tower _post-haste_…and to bring a lot of fish,” He said uncertainly, lifting the bag he carried as if to explain himself.

Bucky shifted behind Tony then at the mention of fish and the noise of the movement in the water drew his attention. But the blond still couldn’t see him with Tony-a very wet and uncomfortable looking Tony-standing in the way.

“_Tony…_” Steve said carefully. “Why are you soaking wet?” He asked curiously, a little furrow between his brows starting to form.

“_Steve-_“ Tony said with faux cheer in his voice. “So glad you could make it-“ He said, faux cheer in his voice and now Steve’s eyebrows were rising higher, nearing his hairline.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Steve asked, straightening up, his tone of voice taking on some of its commanding edge as he looked around the room at their friends.

“It-it’s a bit…_complicated_,” Tony settled on, looking to just about everyone to try and see if they were going to help him out on this one; it didn’t look promising.

“Uh huh,” Steve said, his eyes narrowing suspiciously at the genius.

“Going to even _try_ to explain?” He challenged.

Tony swallowed hard. “It seems…that there was a little bit of a-_mishap-_”

Steve’s eyes narrowed even further as he took a step towards the genius and Tony tried to resist the urge to take a step back. He managed, for now. Steve really was a big guy and could be intimidating as hell when he wanted to be.

“A mishap…” Steve repeated slowly and watched as Tony nodded jerkily, staring up at him uncomfortably.

“What kind of mishap?” Steve questioned, a dangerous edge to his voice.

Tony cringed and started twisting his hands in the hem of his wet shirt, effectively ringing out more water and hitting the blond’s running shoes. “A Loki related mishap?” He mumbled nervously.

Steve’s eyes widened. “What happened? Is everyone alright? Where’s Bucky?” He asked in a panic, immediately glancing around the room at their friends, checking them over for any visible injuries.

“Everyone’s okay, Steve,” Tony told him quickly. “Well, everyone’s alive and…_well_,” He amended and now Steve really looked panicked.

“Where’s Bucky?” He breathed shakily and before Tony could open his mouth to reply, Bucky let out one of those awful dejected sighs again.

“Right here, Stevie,” Bucky said quietly.

Steve’s eyes widened at the sound of his boyfriend’s voice and he quickly stepped up towards the jacuzzi as Tony moved to the side for him, only to find Bucky pressed against the side of the tub. He had been hiding right behind Tony, hands resting over the edge and grasping the sides tightly as he hid from view.

But just as relief at seeing Bucky started to settle in, Steve caught sight of the dark mass of shifting tentacles that seemed to spread out from the brunet’s lower half. He gasped, eyes widening and heart practically stuttering in his chest as he got a real look at him.

“_Buck_-“ He breathed, eyes wide and staring, unblinking at the man before him; half man, half octopus.

“Are you-“ Steve gasped, clearly in shock.

“I’m okay, Stevie,” Bucky tried to console, looking up at him nervously and then Steve was falling to his knees, landing hard on the tiles and dropping his bag of fish on the floor as he tried to get closer to Bucky.

Bucky frowned, knowing Steve had just probably bruised his knees and he shifted up to bring his shoulders a little higher out of the water. Steve’s large calloused _warm_ hands settled over top of Bucky’s, one flesh and one metal and Bucky tried not to shy away from the contact.

Steve took a deep breath and met Bucky’s gaze, shaking his head in disbelief as he studied his beautiful face. “Are you sure about that?” Steve asked nervously, his voice sounding somewhat choked.

Bucky gave him a strained sort of smile and nodded. “I’m not hurt. Loki, he put a curse on me is all.”

Steve guffawed, shaking his head. “_Is that all?_” He said sarcastically and Bucky frowned, shrinking back a bit.

“Thor’s trying to track him down as we speak,” Jane interrupted, hoping to at least try and help ease his mind.

Steve nodded, glancing over at her and then the rest of the Team. “What happened?” He asked in exasperation.

“_It’s complicated-_” Bucky, Tony and pretty well the rest of the Team said in only near unison.

Steve rolled his eyes, huffing out a breath. “Is that all I’m going to get?” He asked, clearly annoyed as he turned his attention back to Bucky.

The brunet just sort of grimaced and gave him a one shouldered shrug, to which, Steve let out a sad sigh. “Alright then…how do we get you back to normal?”

When no one said anything, Steve glanced around at the occupants of the room again and groaned. “Let me guess, _it’s complicated,_” He finished, tone clearly exasperated and not at all happy about the current state of things.

“You got that right,” Bucky muttered quietly, drawing Steve’s attention once again.

The blond simply frowned at him, glancing over at Tony who was still standing beside them and watching them quietly. “Okay,” Steve sighed, seeming to collect himself enough to slip into his Captain’s role.

He stood back up and turned to sit on the edge of the jacuzzi next to where Bucky was still holding onto the edge and gently patted Bucky’s hand before he was reaching up and scrubbing them down his own face to try and take out some of his frustration.

“So…what do we know?” Steve asked with his Captain’s voice firmly in place, hands folding in his lap.

“_Well-_“ Jane started, glancing to Bruce. “Bruce and I have actually studied beings like what Bucky’s current state is on Asgard. There are Merfolk there and although he doesn’t fall into the classification of a Mermaid, Merman or Siren, he does fit into the Kraken category,” She told them.

A soft noise left Clint then, that could have been a sound somewhere between a laugh and a groan and all eyes turned on him as he tried to stifle it with a cough, save for Bucky. He appeared to be rather-_distracted-_at the moment.

Bruce then cleared his throat as he watched as the archer tried to school himself. “Half-human and half-octopi are known as Krakens on Asgard and we’ve actually had the opportunity to study some of them since Thor has been kind enough to take us there. We’ve learned a fair bit about them, even,” Bruce told them.

“Like what?” Steve asked curiously.

“They live primarily solitary lives. Live and breathe underwater almost extensively and tend to be quite lazy, only really being active at night when they’re hunting for food. They mostly just eat fish and other small sea-life,” Jane told them and then glanced to Bruce who picked up where she left off.

“They are indeed quite strong and very capable swimmers and have many similarities to octopi in the wild. Like their defence mechanisms for example, their colour changing abilities and-“ He stopped short there, however, his brows furrowing and head tilting curiously as his gaze was drawn back to Bucky.

Because there was James Buchanan Barnes delving into the grocery bag Steve had brought, the upper half of his shirtless body stretched over the edge of the tub as he pulled some of the paper wrapped fish from the bag carefully with his hands.

With the sudden shift of Bruce’s attention and lack of any continued speech, their gazes slowly moved to settle on Bucky who was now perched carefully on the edge of the tub. Some of his tentacles were gripping the sides to support him as he set one of the small packages down beside him and started to unwrap it.

He seemed completely immersed in what he was doing and hadn’t noticed the conversation had stopped at all as he finally managed to unwrap the paper. A soft sort of tittering sound left him and they all wondered where exactly it’d come from as he licked his lips and picked up one of the filets of fish.

It was a piece of salmon and they watched in curiosity as he shifted up further, his long nearly pitch black tentacles shifting and lifting him higher. He leaned his torso back slightly and they watched with fascination as he began to feed himself.

He started tearing the salmon into smaller strips with his metal hand before he let one of his tentacles take the strips one at a time and carry it down to the mouth and subsequently his beak at the base where his human body ended and his octopus body began.

There was a mouth there apparently and they watched with rapt attention as he devoured piece after piece of the thick cuts of fish and it wasn’t until he’d finished three of the filets that he realized that the room had gone oddly quiet. He blinked, as if coming out of a daze and he looked up questioningly.

He was startled when he found every single one of the room’s occupants, including Tony and Steve, watching him with intense curiosity. Bucky’s stomach suddenly felt like it was dropping and he shrank back almost immediately into the water, cursing harshly under his breath in Russian when he realized what he’d just done.

He hadn’t even thought about it. He just smelt the fish and was so hungry and why he hadn’t eaten it like a _normal person_ was beyond him and he just _wanted_ _it_ so badly. He had just acted. As if some baser instinct had taken over and what’s worse? He’d just inhaled raw fish in an absurd quantity and an equally as horrifying manner.

He shook his head in frustration, drawing away as fast as he could get, shrinking back into the water and plastering himself to the other side of the tub. “_Oh God_-“ He choked. “I’m so fucking _disgusting_-I’m a monster-I’m _so _sorry-I-I didn’t-“ But he didn’t get to finish that sentence.

Steve let out a very upset sound then and Bucky glanced to him in absolute mortification. “_Bucky-“_ He said sternly. “_Stop it_-you’re not-” Steve breathed, shifting around to face the brunet.

Bucky practically whimpered, reaching up and scrubbing his face with his hands, uncaring of the bite of metal as he pressed a little too roughly at his cheeks. “_I am-_“ He nearly cried and suddenly jerked when he felt Steve’s firm hands on his wrists, pulling his hands away from his face.

Steve had moved around to the other side of the tub and was now perched on the edge next to him. He pulled Bucky’s hands from his face and pressed them to his lips, giving his knuckles on each hand soft reassuring kisses.

“_Stop it_-“ Steve said firmly. “You’re not. You were hungry, that’s all. It’s _okay_,” Steve soothed, cradling Bucky’s hands against his chest.

Bucky sobbed, trying to pull away, but Steve felt so warm against his flesh and blood hand and he decided he wanted the warmth. He tangled both hands in the blond’s t-shirt, wetting it as he tried to press in closer.

Steve frowned, clearly upset with the state of him as he let go of Bucky’s hands and let him clutch at his shirt. He shifted a bit and reached out to tuck some of Bucky’s wet hair back behind his ear, wanting to comfort him in any way. He could see differences in the brunet’s features now that he was closer. Like the little bumps and ridges around his temples that disappeared into his hair and he tried not to dwell on it or draw attention to any of them as he caressed his hair soothingly.

Bucky buried his face against Steve’s chest then and Steve carefully wound an arm around his shoulders. He caressed the back of his neck soothingly, feeling the slightly rough texture of his skin and held him a little tighter. “Your hair looks nice, Buck,” Steve murmured softly after a beat.

“Did Natasha cut it for you?” He asked gently, smoothing it back a little more.

Bucky stiffened then and started to draw away and Steve wished he hadn’t said anything at all, because now Bucky was looking at him with a twisted sort of smile. “Not like it makes any difference now,” He said ruefully and Steve really didn’t know what to make of that.

The blond’s frown deepened and he tried to pull him back in closer, but Bucky had already released the hold he’d had on his shirt and was slipping farther away from him into the water. Steve’s brows were pinched in concern and he glanced nervously towards Tony and then the others as if asking for help.

“Tony had an idea,” Wanda murmured after a beat and glanced towards the genius in hopes of prompting him.

Tony was staring at Bucky, his own face pinched in discomfort as he nodded, but then the loud clap of thunder startled everyone. Jane breathed an audible sigh of relief. “That’ll be Thor,” She said, quickly shuffling out of the room and heading towards the balcony, where sure enough, Thor striding towards them looking unhappy, to say the least.

She let him in and dragged him towards the bathroom and he greeted everyone a little less cheerfully than normal, but no less boisterous. “Hello, my friends. I am sorry it took me so long to get back with any news. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find Loki, nor learn of his whereabouts,” He said with a deep sigh.

Bucky frowned as he came closer to the edge of the tub where Natasha was still perched. He rest his chin against her thigh and she absently ran her fingers through his hair as he settled there. “I didn’t think you’d find him anyway, Thor. So no hard feelings. Did you learn anything about the curse at all though?” Bucky asked hopefully.

Thor frowned then and shook his head. “I’m afraid not, my friend. It would appear that this is old magic, though most is, but this curse is shrouded in mystery and only Loki and you know how to break it. There is no other way, short of bringing Loki here to revoke it,” Thor told him gravely.

Bucky grimaced and nodded, glancing up at Natasha nervously as she tugged on his hair a bit to get his attention. “Guess I’m going to be like this for a while then,” Bucky muttered, silently praying that Natasha wouldn’t spill what she’d heard Loki say to him when this whole curse business went down.

She didn’t breathe a word and when Steve, Tony and the others looked to her to see if she would, she simply let out a very put upon sigh and rolled her eyes. “He’s going to be like this for a while, so we’d better get a move on and start building whatever Tony had in mind,” She said sternly, looking back towards the genius himself.

Bucky visibly relaxed and looked to Tony, studiously avoiding Steve’s very pressing gaze at his back. “Okay-“ Tony breathed on a heavy exhale before mentally shaking himself. “A bigger enclosure for sure. I’ll need to do some research and Jane and Bruce are going to have to fill me in a bit more about the Merfolk and their environments and stuff. But I think I could definitely use at least a few pairs of hands to get this project underway,” He admitted, glancing around at their teammates.

“We’re in,” Jane agreed and it took only seconds for the rest of the Team to start nodding and murmuring their agreement.

When Tony glanced towards Clint-who, come to think of it, had been uncharacteristically very nearly silent during the entire exchange-Tony raised a brow at him curiously. But Clint just gave him a strained smile and nodded as well before meeting Natasha’s suddenly stern glower. He jerked his thumb towards the door then.

“Better get a move on-“ Clint said, voice strained before he darted out the bathroom door.

Tony glanced curiously towards Natasha who sighed and rolled her eyes. “I told him if he didn’t have anything nice to say, not to say anything at all,” She sighed and then Bucky snorted inelegantly.

“The tentacle porn jokes were getting to be a bit much,” Bucky admitted with a twisted sort of smile, to which the rest of the group nodded and muttered their agreement.

Tony rolled his eyes but nodded all the same. He wasn’t in the least bit surprised that Clint’s birdbrain had gone there almost immediately and now that he was thinking about it, well…he wasn’t sure why _his_ brain hadn’t gotten there faster.

He cleared his throat a bit and then tore his eyes away from Bucky to settle on Steve who had a very curious, uncertain and confused look on his face as he looked at Bucky and he looked about two-seconds away from asking them a question Tony wasn’t sure Bucky wanted to be on the receiving end of.

“_Steve-_“ Tony quickly interrupted. “I’m going to need you to help lift-_stuff_-think you’re up for it?” He distracted.

Steve frowned a little but nodded as his gaze shifted towards Tony. “Of course, Tony,” The blond murmured as he stood and started towards the others.

“_Great-_“ Tony nearly squeaked, relieved and then glanced towards Bucky who looked stupidly relieved that he’d saved him the embarrassment of well…_that_ conversation.

Tony rubbed his hands together and turned to dash out of the room, when he suddenly thought better of it and went towards the tub first instead. Bucky looked up at him curiously as Natasha stood up and pulled away from him and then Tony leaned down to plant a chaste kiss on his lips.

“We’ll get you sorted, I promise,” Tony promised gently, pressing another quick kiss into his lips and Bucky just blinked in surprise.

Bucky merely nodded and watched as the genius pulled back and then Steve was coming over to bend down and give him an equally as chaste kiss. Bucky only just managed to press his lips back against his and then the blond was straightening and smoothing a hand through Bucky’s still long locks.

“You do look lovely, by the way,” Steve murmured just loud enough for him to hear and Bucky blinked at him in genuine surprise.

He wasn’t sure if Steve was referring to just his hair cut or-

He cut that train of thought off quickly when Steve gave him a very unmistakable once over. It wasn’t lewd or anything, just a blatant look of curiosity and something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on and Bucky found himself swallowing hard, his cheeks heating.

“Thanks,” He barely dared to whisper and Steve smiled at him tentatively.

“Is there anything we can get you before we head off? Do you want someone to stay with you?” Steve asked gently.

Bucky shook his head. “No, I’ll be fine on my own. Just…leave the fish?” He suggested with a sheepish look on his face.

Steve gave him a warm smile. “Of course, love. Just rest and we’ll come up and check on you periodically. Just ask Jarvis for one of us if you need anything, alright?”

Bucky nodded, swallowing hard as he glanced around at the group of his friends who were slowly filtering out of the room. “Thank you,” He whispered and Steve just smiled down at him reassuringly before bending down and pressing a soothing kiss to his temple.

“Get some rest love. I love you,” Steve murmured.

“Love you too, Stevie,” Bucky whispered back.

He watched as Steve pulled away and started towards the bathroom door to where Tony was waiting for him and the genius smiled reassuringly over at Bucky. As Steve took Tony’s hand in his, Bucky watched as the super-soldier leaned down and whispered to Tony, barely loud enough for Bucky to pick up on from his spot in the tub and he suddenly really wished he hadn’t.

“What’s tentacle porn?” The blond asked curiously, brow furrowed and an inquisitive look on his pretty face.

Tony’s muffled laughter was almost drowned out by Clint’s cackling from the other side of the door. Apparently, he’d also heard the question. Bucky inwardly cringed sinking back into the tub as he heard Tony try and tell Steve he’d explain it to him later, while Clint went eerily quiet at Natasha’s sharp Russian threat.

He silently thanked her before he was slipping beneath the water’s surface, completely and curling up on his side at the bottom of the jacuzzi. It was quiet beneath the water and for once, the quiet didn’t bother him. It actually seemed to put him at ease.

He lay there for a while, curled up on his side with his dark tentacles coiled up with him. He let the odd silence settle over him and he soon started drifting in and out of sleep while wondering how on Earth his life had turned out like this.


	2. Chapter 2

Bucky found himself awoken sometime later by a disturbance in the water and he shifted slightly before looking up towards the surface to find someone’s hand drawing patterns therein. He blinked and smiled when he saw the red shock of hair and realized it must be Natasha.

He came up to the surface and wiped his face, pushing his hair back as he came face to face with his friend. “Hey,” He greeted, coming towards the edge where her hand was still resting in the water.

“Hey, yourself, you’ve been sleeping a while. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, how long was I out?” He asked curiously, wiping the water back from his face.

“We checked with Jarvis around noon and he said you’ve been sleeping since around ten-thirty and it’s going on eight o-clock no,” She worried her bottom lip and Bucky felt a little guilty and a lot surprised.

“How did I manage to sleep for so long?” He wondered.

Natasha gave him a reassuring smile, a huff of laughter escaping her. “Jane and Bruce said that the Merfolk they’d studied that are like you tended to be nocturnal in some groups and fairly lazy. So I think this is pretty normal.”

“_Oh-_“ Was all Bucky said for a moment, just letting that process.

Natasha watched him quietly before she glanced down at the fish. “You didn’t eat any more?”

“Forgot about it actually. I guess it’s spoiled now though,” He sighed, a little annoyed that he’d let it go to waste.

Natasha frowned. “I’m pretty sure Wanda slipped out to go and pick up a few things that Jane and Bruce thought you might like. I can go and get a couple of things for you, if you like?”

“I’m not really feeling hungry anyway,” He admitted, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

Natasha nodded, watching him quietly for a long moment. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Bucky frowned then, not bothering to meet her eyes. He knew she’d draw him in too easily if he did. He pressed closer to the edge of the tub and rest his arms against the ledge, setting his chin down over his forearms. “I’m not sure,” He finally admitted. “This is all really strange.”

“I’ll agree with you there,” She huffed, shifting in her spot as she let her wet fingers trail up the back of his neck.

He relaxed some as she carded her fingers through his wet hair in a soothing caress, but the second her fingertips brushed over his temple, he could feel her touching something unusual and he jerked his head back from her.

“What’s the matter?” She asked, worried.

“N-nothing,” He said quickly, a frown marring his features as he reached up and smoothed his hair back, letting his own flesh and blood fingers caress over the same spot.

When he touched the bumps she had just caressed, he inhaled sharply and glanced away. She frowned, leaning over a bit more. “Did I hurt you?”

Bucky shook his head, looking up at her nervously. “N-no, of course not. I just…I don’t know what it is,” He confessed, his hands dropping back into the water.

“It’s okay, it’s nothing crazy. Just some raised skin,” She assured.

Bucky nodded jerkily, not really sure he liked the sounds of that. “Why are you up here anyway?”

“We’ve been asking Jarvis for updates and Tony and Steve were starting to get antsy about getting back to you. So I told them I’d come up and check on you is all,” She explained.

Bucky nodded, frowning as he looked into the water between them. “I’m okay in here. I hope they’re not going too crazy with whatever Tony’s decided to build.”

Natasha chuckled softly, a smile gracing her lips. “Tony never was one for doing things by halves.”

Bucky huffed, shaking his head. “You can say that again,” He sighed, glancing down at the metal black matte of his left arm and was so happy they’d made it impossibly water tight.

He shook his head and Natasha regarded him quietly for a beat. “So, do you want to talk about it?”

Bucky stilled, frowning as he stared into the water. “I’m not really sure where to begin.”

“I get that,” She agreed, shifting in her perch.

Bucky made himself glance up at her and carefully met her gaze. She was still observing him quietly, patiently waiting. He swallowed hard. “It’s just-“ He started nervously, but found himself unable to continue.

Natasha gave him a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry Loki overheard our conversation this morning,” She apologized and Bucky sagged, wrapping his arms around his middle.

“I’m sorry he did too,” He whispered.

“I get why he’s done this, sort of…doesn’t make it fair or right though,” She muttered with a shake of her head.

“If I hadn’t been so insecure-“ He started to berate, but Natasha interrupted him.

“_James_, you have absolutely every right to be nervous about this kind of thing, but being insecure about _yourself?_” She shook her head firmly. “No, you’re wonderful. In every sense of the word.”

“I’m not,” He tried to argue, tone petulant.

She rolled her eyes at the brunet. “Enough, James. You’re lovely, okay? Not only are you smart and funny, you’re ridiculously attractive, strong, protective and so full of love you make me sick,” She told him with a friendly lopsided smile.

Bucky huffed, rolling his eyes as he averted his gaze. “You don’t have to say shit like that just because you’re my friend.”

Natasha scowled at him. “You think I go around telling all my friends that they’re lovely people? No, most definitely not. It’d only fuel their egos and let’s face it, our friends don’t need their egos to get any bigger or we’re going to need a bigger Tower,” She laughed.

Bucky couldn’t help laughing a little at that as he nodded. “Yeah, okay. Fair enough.”

His laughter slowly fading, she smiled at him gently. “So, do you want to start by telling me the real reason why you asked me to cut your hair this morning?”

Bucky swallowed past the lump in his throat as he nodded. “Wanted to look nice for the guys, wasn’t uh…wasn’ entirely about it gettin’ in the way,” He confessed, but then his gaze was shifting down to take in the sight of his tentacles all coiled up beneath him. “Not like it matters now,” He grimaced.

Natasha’s eyes narrowed at him sharply. “Were you trying to impress them or something? Because a hair cut is definitely not necessary.”

Bucky rolled his eyes and shrugged a bit. “I just wanted to look a little nicer, more put together.”

She saw right through it. “You were thinking about having sex with them,” She stated, no judgement in her tone.

Bucky scoffed, mock offended. “_I wasn’t-_“ He said quickly, glancing up at her uncomfortably.

Natasha gave him a soft smile. “You were thinking about being intimate with them, at the very least. Come _on-_“ She prompted. “You can tell me, I love this stuff.”

Bucky looked at her incredulously. “I didn’t take you for a gossip,” His tone wary.

She laughed, bright and beautiful and he couldn’t help smiling at her nervously. “I wouldn’t tell a soul, James. I just want to see you and the boys happy and if I get a bit of dirt on your sex life, who’s it hurting?”

Bucky rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. “I don’t have a sex life, you know that,” He muttered and Natasha’s face fell.

“With Steve the blond bombshell and Tony the playboy, I have a hard time believing that you’ve not done anything,” She admitted.

Bucky sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and tried to think about how to go about this. “Tony’s not a playboy anymore,” He went with instead and Natasha rolled her eyes.

“You know what I mean.”

“Well…no, okay? I don’t have a sex life. They don’t-we don’t-“ He huffed, clearly frustrated with what he was trying to say.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’ve not been intimate with either of them?” She asked curiously. “Like, _at all?_”

Bucky deflated, shaking his head, arms slipping back to his sides. “Not really, no. I’ve told you before. We kiss and hug and share a bed sometimes, touch a little bit over clothes. But I’ve not been sexually intimate with them, no.”

Natasha gaze softened. “Ever?”

Bucky sighed deeply. “Steve and I were, back before the War and everything. Even a couple of times during, but no…not since I came back.”

She nodded, understanding starting to settle in. “You going to tell me the reason _why?_”

Bucky swallowed hard and met her gaze. “I think you probably already know, you’re a smart woman, Natasha.”

“I’d rather you confirm it than for me to just assume the worst,” She said gently.

Bucky frowned and let his gaze drop back into the water as he muttered, “Assume the worst, it probably still isn’t.”

Natasha reached out to him quietly then and rest her hand against his flesh and blood shoulder, giving him a reassuring squeeze. “Come on, James,” She coaxed gently.

He looked up at her quietly then for a moment, just searching her eyes and trying to decide if he was actually going to tell her. He hadn’t told _anyone_ this stuff. Not even his therapists, which, he knows that’s a bad thing and he promised himself he _would_ tell them, eventually. He huffed out a soft sigh and shook his head in defeat.

“I’ve been avoiding being intimate with them because I don’t want to be a disappointment,” He finally confessed and before he could continue, Natasha was already opening her mouth to interrupt.

He silenced her, however, with a raised hand in a gesture for quiet. She closed her mouth and waited, perhaps not entirely too patiently. He shifted then in the water, his tentacles coiling and uncoiling as he did so and her gaze was momentarily drawn to the movement, his anxiety clearly upsetting her.

“We make out, mostly just one on one. Having them both try and initiate something can be really overwhelming for me. But I’ve never let them undress me or…get too close, I guess,” He muttered, rubbing his face in frustration.

He took a much deeper breath then and had to look away as he continued. “Those Hydra assholes, my handlers or whatever, they always put me down. Always told me I was pathetic, worthless. You pick a negative adjective and they’ve probably used it.”

“They called me every name in the book. Told me Captain America would never come for me, never love me, never save me or touch me again. Back when they were still trying to break me, they used him against me all the time,” He told her quietly, an all too familiar heat building behind his eyes.

He didn’t dare meet Natasha’s gaze. “After they started wiping me, they never called me by name or anything. But they called me things like _faggot_ and _queer _and I didn’t understand why at the time it happened. I didn’t understand what half the terms even meant, I just knew that they hurt,” He told her in a whisper.

He shook his head a little then and shifted closer, wanting to comfort him but making herself wait. “Pierce-_shit_-just saying his name makes me shudder,” Bucky muttered, trying in vain to stop the awful shudder from wracking through him.

Natasha frowned deeply as she watched her friend in concern. “He was probably the sickest son of a bitch I’ve ever met,” He told her earnestly. “He was also probably the most creative with the name calling and punishments and to this day I still remember some of the shit he said to me, what he did to me. Sometimes he’d slip and he’d use Steve’s name while he was berating me and then he’d have to go and wipe me all over again,” He muttered angrily, expression twisted with hurt.

“And then one day they brought me out of cryo and I was left alone in a holding cell for God only knows how long. They hadn’t given me a mission, nothing. No instructions other than to just wait. So, I waited, like a good little soldier,” His tone was mocking. “I waited for nearly twenty-four hours until P-_he_-showed up,” Bucky told her with a shake of his head.

“When he came in, he was angry. More pissed off than I’d ever seen him. Said that my last mission had gone sideways and I fucked up. I couldn’t remember _shit_, so of course I believed him-_had to-_” He heaved in a breath, swallowing thickly. “He’d come to punish me. Told me he’d gotten the rest of the day blown wide open for some _quality one-on-one time, _with me,” Bucky said nervously, his heart rate ticking up.

Natasha shifted in her spot, her hand grasping his shoulder a little tighter as she listened. This was by far the most Bucky had opened up to her let alone anyone else. “What do you think he did with that one-on-one time, Natasha? Tell me a bedtime story?” He asked with a grimace as he finally works dup the nerve to meet her gaze.

Natasha’s face was pinched in clear pain and she held his gaze. “He raped you,” She barely dared to breathe, beyond angry at the knowledge.

Bucky didn’t even bother to confirm it, he simply continued to hold her gaze. “I’ve been _terrified_ of being intimate with Steve and Tony because they’re going to see the scars, they’re going to see what a monster I am, what he did to me and all. I don’t heal as well as Steve, Natasha,” He swallowed thickly, his throat tight with emotion as he finally dropped his gaze to the water between them, unable to hold it any longer.

She let her hand slip up the side of his neck, careful not to touch the slits there before she cupped his cheek. “You think they’d judge you for them? For what you had no control over? For something you had no say in and no way to stop?” She asked quietly.

Bucky grimaced, shaking his head. “I don’t know. I’d like to think they wouldn’t, but they’re going to be _repulsed_, sickened and disgusted by what was done to me. Maybe they’ll think I didn’t stop it because I-_wanted it_ in some weird or twisted way. That I deserved it-“

Natasha shook her head firmly. “_No,_ you’re so wrong, James. You know how much they love you. They’d do anything for you, _anything_. Because you’re their everything.”

“They’re my everything too. Doesn’t mean they’re going to be okay with this,” Bucky said softly.

Natasha frowned deeply, just watching him for a beat. “So Loki’s whole speech about turning you into a reflection of how you see yourself was really accurate, huh?”

Bucky grimaced, shrugging lightly and tried to avoid looking at the mass of shifting tentacles around him. “Think you’re a monster, become a monster, I guess.”

Natasha sighed deeply then, reaching up and pinching the bridge of her nose. “You’re not a monster, James,” She said in frustration.

But Bucky just rolled his eyes, ignoring her. “And I take it his comment about the curse only being lifted when you are able to let those that love you _show_ you how they see you with the…_act of_…_love_…refers to you having sex with the boys,” She huffed.

Bucky grimaced, thinking back to Loki’s words as he looked down at himself and the tentacles spreading out from just below his navel. “Guess I’m going to be stuck like this forever, huh?”

Natasha watched him quietly for a moment too long. “Don’t give up so quickly, James,” She told him, a slight quirk to her lips. “You never know what kind of kinks Tony might have.”

Bucky barked out a strained laugh at that, his cheeks heating as he looked up at her. “Yeah, _right_,” He huffed, shaking his head.

Natasha smiled softly before letting out a sigh as she stood. “I’d better get back to the Team. Tony’s called in some help, but I think we’re going to be busy right through til’ morning at the very least,” She explained as she picked up the bag of bad fish.

“Make sure everyone’s eating and getting enough sleep. Don’t let Tony drink too much coffee or Steve strain a muscle _or-_“ Bucky fretted, only to be interrupted by Natasha’s soft chuckle.

“_Relax_, Barnes. I’ve got it. Get some rest and if you need anything, just ask Jarvis. I can always bring you something to eat if you’re hungry, so just ask,” She told him as she headed for the door.

“Thank you,” He called after a beat, just as she slipped through the doorway and into the bedroom.

Natasha merely smiled to herself as she disappeared out of sight and headed towards the elevator. “No_ thank you_’s, Barnes!” She called back over her shoulder.

Bucky smiled softly, making a mental note to ask Tony if he could order her a new knife or something as a _thank you _for her being so awesome. He shook his head at the thought and sighed softly, already slipping further into the water. “Hey J?” He whispered.

“Yes, Sergeant Barnes?” The AI replied.

“Think you could turn the lights up a bit?”

Since waking up, he’d noticed that the Sun had clearly gone down and the lights had dimmed in the bathroom considerably since he’d been speaking with Natasha. But he was curious about something and knew he was going to need a little more light if he wanted to see properly.

“Of course,” Jarvis replied and then the lights in the bathroom were increasing to almost full brightness.

He blinked a little, letting his eyes adjust but then he was moving over towards the right side of the tub, the side closest to the sinks and the vanity mirrors. He swallowed hard as he looked over the side of the tub nervously and slowly met his reflection in the mirrors on the opposite wall.

Only his head was visible over the edge of the jacuzzi and carefully, he raised himself up. He braced his hands against the side of the tub as he lifted himself and slowly moved up the side. His tentacles latched onto the walls of the jacuzzi easily as he raised himself bodily up out of the water as if he weighed nothing.

He watched his reflection in the mirror in near fascinated horror as more and more of his altered body became visible. He noted the greyish tinge to his skin, the slits along both sides of his ribs, on his neck too. He could see the raised bumps with a darker grey colouring to them up by his hairline and he swallowed past the awful lump in his throat as he let his gaze wander even lower.

He tentatively raised a tentacle out in front of him, his gaze straying from the mirror to the actual appendage as it stretched out before him. The water was rolling and dripping off of him as he let his eyes wander over his new limbs and he didn’t realize it right then, but he’d started to tremble.

They were blacker than black in the brightness of the bathroom and he blinked hard as tears started to well up in his eyes as he gazed down at the tentacle. He studied it in abject horror as he flexed and curled it, watching as it moved exactly as his brain told it to.

He was simultaneously horrified and curious as he turned it under the light and noted the rows of what appeared to be suction cups tapering off in size as they neared the delicate tip. He was shaking hard now and with both sets of gills completely out of water, he realized he wasn’t getting enough air in despite the use of his normal lungs and was struggling to breathe slightly.

He shrank back into the water immediately and was relieved when his body started to filter the water through his gills. They fluttered, opening and closing as he continued to breathe and he slowly managed to calm down enough to shakily whisper for Jarvis to turn the lights off completely.

The moment he was plunged into darkness, only the light of the Moon filtering in through the windows at his back, did he slip beneath the water completely. He curled up on his side, drawing his tentacles around himself and effectively blocking out all sound, all sight and anything else that might attempt to wake him and slipped off into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Sometime during the early morning, Steve had come up to check on him and found the tight knit mass of tentacles and he’d panicked and called Jane and Bruce up to see if they could help him make sure Bucky was okay. When the scientists appeared by his side to peer curiously into the tub, their brows furrowed in unison. “I think he’s sleeping,” Jane murmured as she dipped her hand into the water a bit and attempted to rouse him.

“Have you tried waking him up?” Bruce asked curiously as he met Steve’s worried stare.

“I-the _water_-“ He said quietly, his face contorting in his own sort of misery and they both seemed to realize what the problem was.

Steve didn’t exactly like water…let alone anything resembling an ocean, lake, pool and apparently even a bathtub. “Oh-“ Jane said quickly, rolling up her sleeves as far as she could as she leaned over the side of the tub and stretched her arms into the warm water.

Bruce shifted as he sat at the edge of the tub and looked down. Jane was reaching into it as far as she could, but she could barely brush the tips of her fingers against one of his tentacles. She was just a little thing after all.

“Here-“ Bruce offered, rolling up his own sleeve as he leaned over and tried to reach for their friend.

His hand barely brushed against one of Bucky’s larger tentacles before it twitched a bit in response and then stilled. He brushed it again with the back of his hand, but it merely coiled tighter over the brunet. “I’m pretty sure he’s just sleeping,” Bruce tried to reassure, drawing his hand from the water.

Jane nodded. “He’s twitching, which means he’s probably in REM sleep,” She said gently, looking over at the blond.

Steve didn’t look all that convinced. “But why are the tentacles around him like that?”

Bruce shrugged a little. “He could be subconsciously trying to protect himself. I’m sure the stress of everything has gotten to him and maybe this is just a way for his body to try and settle.”

Steve nodded, not really sure what else to do at the moment. Jane looked over at him quietly. The blond had awful bags under his eyes and was covered in dirt and grime and she glanced over at Bruce and then down at herself. They really looked no better.

“I think we should all perhaps try and get some rest,” She suggested gently.

Steve frowned, reaching up and rubbing at his temple. He shook his head. “I can’t, not yet. Tony said just a few more hours and we’ll be ready to move him…if we can wake him.”

Jane nodded, glancing over to Bruce. “We should head back and help finish up,” Bruce suggested then.

Steve gave him an appreciative tired smile. “Yeah,” The blond murmured, glancing back down into the tub and gazing at Bucky curled up so tight.

“I’ll go and make more coffee,” Jane offered, rubbing her eyes as they started for the doorway and Steve suddenly pulled her in for a fierce hug.

He held her tight and breathed out shakily as she let out a startled sound at the suddenness of it. “_Thank you_,” He said quickly, breathing against the top of her head as he hugged her.

She smiled nervously before hugging him back tightly. “No problem, Steve,” She said, relaxing into his embrace before he drew away.

Steve smiled down at her before they headed off towards one of the empty floors where they’d set up shop.

.

Bucky wasn’t sure what time it was when he next awoke. He’d been startled awake when a strong pair of hands was suddenly poking and prodding at him and he groaned as he twisted and started to uncurl. His tentacles slowly slipped from their coiled state around his body and he tried to get away from the incessant poking.

He muttered curses of both English and Russian as he forced his eyes open and he quickly realized that he was still under water in the jacuzzi and there were two sets of delicate hands poking and prodding at him, trying to get his attention.

He swore sharply and immediately moved away from them and came to the surface. “_Finally-_“ Natasha said with a roll of her eyes as he broke the surface of the water.

Bucky groaned, wiping his face and pushing his wet hair back. “What the hell are you two doing?” He muttered in annoyance, still a bit groggy from being woken so suddenly.

“We’ve been trying to wake you for almost fifteen minutes,” Wanda said with an annoyed huff as she put her hands on her hips.

Bucky blinked in surprise, noting the fact that they were both wearing one piece bathing suits and not much else. Their upper halves were wet from no doubt trying to wake him and he blushed a little.

“Uh, sorry,” He apologized and Natasha shrugged.

“You sleep like the dead and we couldn’t get your limbs to unwind. We’ve been poking at you for ten minutes now.”

“Everything alright?” Wanda asked him gently. “Steve said he found you asleep like this earlier this morning and Jarvis said you slept all night like that.”

Bucky swallowed hard, wondering when Steve had been in to check on him and his brow furrowed at the thought. “Yeah-“ He said nervously. “Was just sleepin’.”.

Wanda nodded, glancing towards Natasha who was watching Bucky curiously. Bucky looked up at the red-head. “What?” He asked, feeling a little uncomfortable with her stare.

Natasha shook her head. “Nothing, we came to get you. You ready to go?”

Bucky looked at her like she had suddenly sprouted two heads. “Uh…where am I going?”

Wanda and Natasha just smiled tiredly at him and Bucky realized that there were deep set bags under their eyes. Before he could ask if they’d even slept at all, Wanda was doing something with her magic as Natasha moved off to the side, a safe ways away.

“We’ve come to bring you to the new enclosure we’ve been working on for you,” Natasha explained, watching as Wanda started to manipulate her power.

Bucky eyes widened when he suddenly felt himself being pulled from the water as Wanda used her magic. But then the water was being drawn up around him in a sort of bubble and he made a startled sort of noise in his throat as he was lifted up into the air, safely inside of his bubble of water.

“This is weird-“ Bucky whispered, but then shrugged, looking down at himself incredulously.

Wasn’t the weirdest thing to happen to him in the last twenty-four hours, at least. He watched in nervous amusement as Wanda used her powers to carry him through the doorway and through the penthouse and when the three of them squished into the elevator, Bucky couldn’t help grinning wryly at them.

“Well…aren’t we just like a tin of comfortable sardines,” He tried with a half-hearted chuckle, to which Wanda and Natasha simply rolled their eyes.

“At least his sense of humour is still intact,” Wanda added with a smirk as the elevator headed down to one of the unused living floors.

Bucky watched as the doors opened and there was the Team looking a little worse for wear as they milled around in the living room. “That’s…odd,” Clint muttered as he got a look at the three of them as they got out of the elevator.

Wanda huffed and continued to walk through the living room and through a bedroom. Bucky watched curiously, his eyes flickering around to settle on first his Steve and Tony and their worried, yet tired gazes before he was being carried through another door on the opposite side of the bedroom.

His gaze was immediately drawn to the fact that this was definitely a make-shift door and upon passing through it, his eyes widened. They’d blown out a wall-or three-and instead of another room, he was suddenly in another suite all-together. The space was blown wide and now housed a two floor sort of aquarium.

It was like walking out onto a balcony, only the balcony dipped into a pool that sunk two floors. It was huge, to say the least. As he was carried, he realized that the floor was tiled as it led to a set of stairs that led into the aquarium. His eyes widened when he saw the three day beds he’d seen on some of the Team’s balconies pressed up against the wall above the aquarium as if to view the water; much like you would around a pool.

“_Wow-_“ He muttered, but then shifted uncomfortably as Wanda used her powers to push him out over the water.

He wondered for a moment if she was just going to drop him in and braced himself for the chance that the water would be cold or that it might hurt. He needn’t have worried, however. Wanda smiled up at him tiredly and slowly motioned her hands down towards the water and Bucky’s bubble started to follow the motion.

It took only seconds before he was gentled into the water. He let himself slip under for a moment as the bubble surrounding him broke and a slight shiver went through him as his body adjusted to the new temperature. Up in the bath, it’d been a touch warmer, but the aquarium he was now submersed in was just a couple of degrees cooler.

He breathed in deeply beneath the water before breaching the surface to find both Wanda and Natasha descending the steps and starting to swim towards him. “How’s the temperature?” Tony called from the topmost step as he crouched down to their level.

Bucky blinked as he met his gaze. “It’s a little cooler than the bath,” He murmured, not wanting to complain.

Tony smiled at him gently. “Want me to turn it up?”

Bucky nodded nervously and Tony just smiled at him before asking Jarvis to knock up the temperature a few degrees. Bucky was relieved it was that simple and took a second to glance around himself.

To say the tank was huge was an understatement and now that he was looking, he noted that the walls of the enclosure were a light blue and yet the bottom looked as if it were beige. He frowned down at it before slipping under the water to investigate. As he let himself swim closer to the bottom, he realized why the colour wasn’t the same as the walls because there was sand covering the floor.

He let himself slink closer to the floor and when his tentacles stretched out and started to explore the new texture, he couldn’t help smiling thoughtfully. He looked around a bit and saw that there was what looked like a tunnel or overhang or something off to his right, but he didn’t want to go exploring without talking to the Team first.

He quickly ascended, breaking through the surface of the water quickly. He smiled nervously as he wiped the water from his face and swam over to where Natasha and Wanda were now sitting on one of the steps. Clint, Thor, Jane and Bruce were all sitting on the day beds watching him with little tired smiles on their faces and Bucky’s heart clenched with guilt.

“Thank you guys so much for doing this…you all must be so exhausted. You’ve been slaving away with making this and I’ve been _sleeping_ almost the entire time,” He said, his tone coloured with guilt.

“_Don’t worry about it-_“ and “_Honestly, wasn’t a big deal_-“ Seemed to be the overarching messages he was receiving from his friends and Bucky tried to relax his steadily beating heart. They also explained that they hadn’t exactly done _all_ the work by themselves, Tony having pulled a few things and even involving a couple of the suits to handle some of the heavy lifting.

But then Bucky’s gaze was flickering towards Steve who had emerged in the doorway, keeping a safe distance away from the pool of water. He looked nervous and uncomfortable and Bucky’s heart sank at the notion that Steve wouldn’t want to come and see him now that he was in a larger body of water.

He swallowed hard as he tried not to feel a wave of disappointment and hurt and let it colour his features and instead gave the blond the warmest smile he could muster. Steve seemed to relax a bit and he gave him a timid smile in return.

“We did a bit more research and Jane and Bruce were able to give us some key information about what kind of an environment might work best for you, given your situation,” Tony chimed in.

Bucky nodded, swimming closer to where Natasha sat watching him intently, elbows settled on her knees as she relaxed in the water. “There’s lots of space to move around in and Jarvis controls the filtration systems and temperature regulation as well, so ask him at any point if you want the temperature up or down,” Tony continued.

Bucky nodded quietly and glanced over at Bruce when the scientist cleared his throat. “Jane and I put together a compilation of our notes on the Merfolk of Asgard and Tony’s uploaded them on one of his waterproof tablets for you,” Bruce explained and Bucky glanced over towards the genius who was now brandishing a tablet at him.

“This one’s yours, love,” Tony told him and Bucky nodded, still keeping quiet.

“There’s a ton of information on our findings and while I think there will clearly be some differences, you’ll probably find more similarities than anything,” Jane chimed in after a beat and Bucky nodded once again.

“Thank you,” He whispered and the group just smiled at him in reassurance. “You should all go get some rest,” Bucky tried gently, concern and a bunch of other emotions warring in his voice.

“We’ll get there,” Natasha insisted, giving him a soft smile.

“Just a couple more things,” Tony said softly, drawing Bucky’s attention again.

“There’s an alcove we built, but after seeing how deep asleep you were last night, we’re a little worried we won’t be able to wake you or get your attention if you're that far away,” Tony said nervously. “So just…maybe for now, wait to sleep in there-if you even want to, that is-until I’ve come up with a way to wake you without having to get someone to swim down there and get to you,” Tony suggested.

Bucky nodded, wondering just how far away that alcove stretched away from the surface if he was worried about being able to reach him. “Of course, Tony,” Bucky murmured in response.

Tony nodded, looking relieved and Bucky smiled at him nervously, but then Steve was shifting in the doorway and drawing the brunet’s gaze. He watched as he took a few nervous steps towards the steps leading into the water and then stopped before squatting down next to Tony.

Tony glanced over at him and Steve gently rest his hand on the brunet’s shoulder. “We’re going to be staying in the apartment attached to this one, so we’re just through the door if you need anything,” Steve explained.

“And you know you can ask Jarvis at any time if you need something or someone and he’ll get one of us to help,” Tony continued.

Bucky nodded quietly, glancing between the pair with what was most certainly a very miserable expression. Steve and Tony’s weren’t any better. “Thanks,” He said quietly, but then Natasha was clearing her throat and directing Bucky’s attention towards a handle that was up on the tiled portion surrounding the pool.

“This is a cooler full of fish for you, hun,” She told him gently. “We’ll keep it fully stocked, so if there’s something you like or don’t like, just let Jarvis know and we’ll take it off or put it on our list,” Natasha continued.

Bucky nodded, his mouth suddenly going dry at the thought of food. Apparently he was hungry but he wasn’t about to have a repeat of yesterday’s embarrassment, so he kept it to himself. “Thanks-“ He said, his voice sounding hoarse from the mess of emotions he was suddenly feeling.

Thor stood then and gave Bucky a very stern look. “I’m going to keep trying to find my brother, James. If I can get to him and urge him to revoke the curse, I will,” He insisted and Bucky could do nothing but smile ruefully.

“Don’t waste your time. He won’t take it back,” He whispered before slowly slipping farther away from the stairs.

Steve and Tony were frowning now as they watched him and although they wanted to insist that Bucky tell them what could be done to fix this, Natasha had told them to give him time and try their hardest not to push him. After she’d gone to check on him the night before, she had been more quiet than usual, caught up in her own thoughts as they’d worked together to get the aquarium built and when they’d asked if everything was okay, she’d simply smiled tightly and nodded.

Later, after she’d had time to think, she approached them and asked them not to pressure Bucky to tell them what he knew. And if they loved him and respected him, they wouldn’t pry and they’d continue to be there and support him through this. Of course they’d immediately agreed and tried to ignore the awful pits in their stomachs from opening up any further when they realized that Natasha looked about two-seconds away from crying as she’d asked them.

They’d never seen her cry, never seen her even _look_ like she might cry and it troubled them greatly.They’d left it at that and worked tirelessly with the rest of the Team through the night and well into the afternoon of the next day before they’d finally managed to finish their whale of a project. And so here they were, exhausted, upset, worried and just plain hurt about their current predicament.

It was nearing on seven o-clock at night now and everyone looked like they were about to fall asleep where they stood or sat and Bucky motioned them towards the door with a wave of his flesh and blood hand.“You guys should really get to bed, you look like shit. Look’s like you’ve been up all night surviving on coffee and doughnuts,” He laughed, hoping to get at least a smile out of them.

He managed, but just. Steve gave him a worried smile, as did Tony and the others simply chuckled softly and nodded before they were rising to head off. “We’ll see you tomorrow, James,” Bruce said as he followed Thor and Jane towards the doorway.

Bucky nodded, waving to them a bit as he watched them go. Then Wanda was rising to her feet and grabbing a towel from one of the beds and wrapping it around himself. “See you later,” She said with a yawn as she headed for the door as well.

Bucky gave her a soft smile and nodded, watching as she left. Clint seemed to hesitate at the doorway though and Natasha reluctantly stood when she realized he wasn’t going to leave without her. She let her gaze linger on Bucky for a moment longer before she motioned towards the cooler in the floor.

“Make sure you eat something,” She told him sternly before she too was grabbing a towel as she made her way towards Clint.

“I will,” He told her quietly as he watched them leave.

And then he was left alone with his boyfriends who were still watching him quietly from their spots on the topmost step. Steve’s gaze was settled on the water between them and he looked as though he were debating stepping into it.

“_Hey-_“ Bucky murmured, trying to get his attention.

Steve looked up to meet his gaze then and he smiled nervously. “Hey,” He murmured in response.

Bucky smiled nervously, before glancing towards Tony. “You two should get some sleep.”

Tony nodded reluctantly and even Steve seemed to be fighting with himself over whether or not he actually needed to sleep. “I’ll be fine in here, honest. It’s comfortable, the temperature’s great and there’s food and a place to sleep…” But he trailed off at the twin looks of uncomfortable despair growing worse and worse the longer he continued to talk.

He grimaced and tried to keep calm as he watched Steve’s lower lip start to quiver. “Please don’t-“ Bucky said weakly, swimming closer to the stairs and bracing his hands on the deepest step, shoulders only just beneath the surface.

Steve took a deep breath and tried to calm himself and then Tony was turning to look at the blond. “Maybe you should go and take a shower, get ready for bed and I’ll be in in a moment, okay?” Tony tried to gentle him and Steve blinked before reluctantly nodding.

Bucky watched as his boyfriend stood then and took a couple of shaky steps away from the pool. “Love you, Buck,” Steve whispered, his eyes practically brimming with tears as he headed towards the door that led to their temporary bedroom.

Bucky watched him go, murmuring his own _I love you_ as his shoulders sagged dejectedly, letting his eyes settle on a patch of water as it lapped against the topmost step. Tony inhaled deeply then and Bucky’s gaze flickered to meet his quietly. Tony just looked at him for a long moment, neither moving to say or do anything for a while.

“I love you, Tony,” Bucky murmured after a little time had passed.

Tony smiled then, but it looked brittle. “I know, babe. I love you too…so, _so_ much,” He breathed, his hand twitching where it rest on his thigh.

He looked as if he wanted to reach out and touch him and Bucky visibly winced. Tony pretended not to notice as he pressed his fingertips to his lips before making a kissy-noise and blowing him a kiss. Bucky smiled genuinely then and proceeded to pretend to catch it before he held it to his chest, right above his heart.

Tony smiled, those gentle crinkles deepening around his beautiful brown eyes Bucky watched as he slowly got to his feet, his entire body protesting the movement. He groaned a bit and Bucky’s face fell, realizing that he’d been the cause of his discomfort. Bucky made an odd sort of tittering sound and Tony looked over at him curiously. “You should see if Steve could give you a massage,” Bucky murmured.

Tony smiled sadly at him. “Nah, I’m okay. Plus, you give way better massages than he does,” He chuckled, eyes flickering over Bucky’s metal arm and Bucky couldn’t help smiling at him sadly as he nodded.

“Don’t let Steve hear you say that,” He whispered and Tony smirked.

“Night, Buck,” Tony whispered after a moment, still just watching his Bucky floating in the water.

“Night, Tony,” Bucky whispered back as he watched Tony eventually head towards the door that led to the bedroom.

Bucky stayed there for a few minutes, listening to Tony shuffle around the bedroom before disappearing into the adjoining bathroom where Steve had gone. Bucky turned then to go and investigate the cooler where Natasha said there’d be fish, he was actually really hungry now.

Sure enough, there were dozens of different kinds of fish already sliced up into nice filets and the cooler was clearly temperature regulated because they were nice and cold. He grimaced uncomfortably as he pulled out a couple of pieces of some kind of white fish and he groaned softly, the smell hitting him as he put the lid back on the cooler before drawing away, fish held firmly in his metal hand. _Why_ did it smell so damn _good?_

Before he could think much about how he was going to do this, he found his body sort of taking over, following no doubt what was instinct as he started to slip back beneath the water. One of his tentacles reached up and took the fish from his hand and proceeded to feed it into his body, obviously where his second mouth was and the beak therein.

He vaguely wondered how it worked and as he continued to finish off the couple pieces of fish, he recalled the research that Bruce and Jane had mentioned gathering together for him. He finished off his meal, feeling much better now that he was fed and breached the surface of the water, swimming over towards the stairs.

He could see the tablet resting idly on the tiles where Tony had set it down and he climbed up the stairs clumsily as he reached for it. His tentacles gripped the tile of the steps easily once he got used to it and he drew himself up out of the water nearly half way as he managed to grab it with his flesh and blood hand. He realized stupidly, that he could have just gotten it by reaching out with one of the tentacles and he huffed at himself in annoyance.

He drew back into the water, turning and sort of sitting down on the steps as he woke up the tablet. It didn’t take much to find the documents he’d been looking for and he furrowed his brow when he realized that the research his teammates had gathered was nearly fifty pages in length.

He shook his head in disbelief before making himself more comfortable. He kept most of his body beneath the water as he turned around to rest his elbows on one of the steps, making sure to keep the gills on his ribs at the very least beneath the surface as he started reading.

He spent some time learning about octopi in the wild in relation to the half-human, half-octopus Merfolk on Asgard and thought it pretty interesting. He wondered how much he had in common with either the Merfolk or just an octopus in general. He kept reading for a while, discovering that he had the ability to change the colour of his tentacles and even his skin to an extent if he ever felt threatened or wanted to blend in with his surroundings.

He thought that sounded pretty nifty and knew he’d give it a try later on. He also learned that he may have the capability of creating a _Siren’s Call_ or _Song_ and unfortunately, there wasn’t enough research on the subject to tell him anything more than that. All that was stated was that Merfolk were able to sing to each other both in and out of water to call their loved ones to them or to attract mates.

He wondered if the name, the _Siren’s Call_, was related to any of the myths he’d heard when he was a kid about the sailors lured to their deaths by beautiful singing Mermaids, only to be shipwrecked and or eaten alive by them. He grimaced at the thought, not sure if he wanted to know if they were truly myths or were somehow based on very old facts.

He swallowed thickly and shook his head, trying to dismiss the thought. He continued to read on, discovering that most octopi were indeed very lazy and slept a great deal during the day and even at night. They only seemed to stay awake when they were hunting for food or looking for a mate.

Bucky winced a little, his cheeks heating. He didn’t want to just sleep and eat for however long the curse was going to be upon him and he had no intention of looking for a _mate_. He shrank back at the thought and sighed deeply. He had two wonderful boyfriends and even if they weren’t intimate just yet, he still loved them incredibly so.

He sighed as he glanced over his shoulders to the mass of dark tentacles spread out behind him. “Not like it’s gonna’ happen now,” He muttered, rolling his eyes as he turned his attention back to the tablet.

He read for a bit more, learning about the way the Merfolk breathe and how they could live under water pretty well indefinitely, never coming to the surface for air if they didn’t want to. He also learned that they preferred to sleep in darkness in caves or under rocks if they were large enough. So that explained why they’d built him that alcove.

He huffed out a breath when he came across a word he didn’t quite understand. The sentence went something like this; _While most documented Octopi and even the Merfolk who appear to be half-human and half-octopi, are known to possess eight limbs or arms. Most species also have a ninth and in some cases a tenth limb known as a hectocotylus._

Bucky paused here, wondering what the heck it was talking about. He glanced down at his tentacles before shifting in the water to spread them out and sure enough, there were not eight limbs, but ten. He furrowed his brow in confusion and went back to the passage to continue reading.

He barely got through half of the next paragraph before he was choking on a strangled sort of sound deep in his throat as his eyes widened in clear shock. He quickly locked the tablet and set it on the topmost step, barely having resisted throwing it at a wall. He was grimacing something awful as he drew himself back into the water and dove beneath the surface, cheeks so hot he thought he was going to combust.

He tried to distract himself for a few minutes, and it worked, sort of. He’d forced himself to go exploring and he’d checked out the alcove for a beat. When his thoughts started to wander back to what he had read, he quickly turned and swam out of the dimly lit cove. He shook his head, muttering softly to himself and he was surprised when he realized that he could actually hear himself talk under water.

He was momentarily distracted by this new piece of information and he shook his head in disbelief as he started scouting out the rest of his enclosure. The walls were a pale blue and he followed along the sandy bottom as he navigated the rest of the enclosure. There were several colourful rocks and he found that he could actually squeeze under a couple of them if he was so inclined.

For some reason, he found himself oddly pleased by the thought and he huffed in confusion before he circled back to the alcove. He peered inside the dimly lit space and realized that there were a few lights built into the top curved wall. He wondered how he could turn them on.

He reached out to one of them and smiled when his fingertip caressed the oval light and it illuminated beneath his fingertips. “_Oh-_“ He breathed, drawing his hand away.

He reached up and tapped on the other two lights and watched as the space lit up around him. He visibly relaxed as he was able to take in more of the space. It appeared to be a small den. The sand covered the floor here too and there were several randomly coloured pillow looking objects therein.

He prodded one with his flesh and blood hand and he laughed loudly when it appeared squishy, almost like a gel pillow. He shook his head with a huff and picked up one of the navy blue ones and squished it to his chest. He rolled his eyes and set it back down before he turned around to leave the alcove.

But just as he was about to reach up and touch the lights to turn them off, his gaze fell to the mass of tentacles stretched out before him. His gaze travelled along them and he realized that they were no longer pitch black, but a deep navy blue.

“_Huh-_“ He murmured, brows furrowing as he let his gaze linger.

He flexed his tentacles and twisted them then and watched as the colour changed back to black in a flash. He stared at them, startled to see the change take place so quickly. He wondered if he could do it again.He glanced around the den for the other coloured pillows and settled on an orange one. He hastily reached out for it and held it to his chest, making sure to let his gaze wander across his limbs as he flexed again.

His eyes widened in surprise when his ten limbs quickly changed colours, turning into such a deep shade of orange, the tips of his tentacles appearing almost red in colour. He dropped the pillow and let his tentacles curl towards him a bit. He drew one up before his face and examined it carefully.

Now that they weren’t pitch black, he could actually see the details in them much better. He was curious about them, but he couldn’t bring himself to touch them. He swallowed hard andlet his eyes trace over each limb, his mind unintentionally being drawn back to what he’d read a few minutes before.

He shifted uncomfortably as he found the two _extra_ tentacles and looked at them warily. They were slightly different from the rest, though you wouldn’t notice if you weren’t looking for it. Eight of them appeared to all be similar in length, larger the closer they were to the body and they tapered out into fairly thin points.

There were two side by side, however, that appeared slightly shorter and upon closer inspection, appeared to be void of suction cups about twelve inches or so from the tips. He swallowed hard as he brought them closer to get a better look. They appeared smooth and were shaped a little differently than the others. Instead of finer points, they were slightly rounded and he regarded them curiously for a moment longer.

He shook his head before quickly jerking them away from his face, flexing his tentacles and effectively shaking out the colour. He stared down at the black tangle of limbs and swallowed hard before reaching up and tapping on each of the lights to turn them off.

Slowly he found himself returning to the surface and his gaze drifted towards the door that led to Steve and Tony’s temporary bedroom. The lights were off already though and he frowned as he let himself drift over towards the side of the enclosure where he could see a stack of towels piled along with what looked like pool toys.

He smiled a little and pulled himself up a bit to grasp at one of the inflatable mattresses. He dragged it into the water and pulled it along behind him as he swam away from the stairs. Once he was a comfortable distance away, he turned and let his arms fold over each other on the edge of the mattress.

He rest upon it easily enough, his lower half still comfortably beneath the surface of the water, only his arms, shoulders and head above, resting comfortably on the inflatable bed. He sighed and let his head rest on his arms. He looked around him as he drifted in the water and noticed several speakers built into the walls of the room.

He chuckled, because of course Tony would put speakers in here. “Hey J?”

“Yes, Sergeant Barnes?” The AI replied.

“Think you could put on some music for me? You know what I like and if you could keep the volume pretty low, I don’t want to wake the guys,” He murmured.

“Of course…though I don’t think even a runaway train would wake them at this point,” Jarvis told him.

Bucky huffed out a laugh. “That tired, eh?”

“It would appear that way,” Jarvis said and then soft music was coming through the speakers.

He relaxed when notes from one of his favourite songs reached his ears and he nodded. “Dim the lights please, J. Just going to rest my eyes for a bit,” Bucky murmured, letting his eyes adjust as the AI lowered the lights to almost nothing.

The music continued to play and he let himself drift off to sleep, with odd thoughts colouring his dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter that I forgot to upload. Ugh, I'm sorry. I've been so distracted as of late. I wrote this a little while ago and forgot to post it. Hope you like it. <3


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Bucky was awoken by a light splash against his back and he lifted his head in surprise, blinking away the sleep from his eyes as he looked around in a bit of a daze. He smiled when he saw who the culprit was and let out a chuckle. 

“Morning, Nat,” He said with a stretch, slipping off of his inflatable mattress and swimming towards her.

The red-head was sitting on the second step, half of her swimsuit covered body submerged under water and she smiled at him playfully. “Morning, sunshine. Sleep alright?” She asked as she started to slip into the water a bit more and swim towards him.

He stopped swimming towards her and simply started to tread water as he watched her curiously. “I think so,” He murmured, watching her a tad warily.

He glanced towards the open bedroom door. “Where’s Steve and Tony?”

“Getting some breakfast. Tony said he popped in to make sure you were alright, but you were still sleeping so he didn’t want to disturb you,” She told him.

Bucky chuckled softly. “But you had no such qualms.”

Natasha merely smirked at him and shook her head. “They’ll be in soon, I’m sure,” She reassured and Bucky nodded, continuing to tread water a safe distance away.

She made no attempt to swim any closer towards him and instead simply started swimming around to stretch her legs. “What time is it anyway?” He asked after a beat, but then Tony was stepping in through the door with a cup of coffee cradled in his hands.

“Just on ten in the morning,” He said cheerily and then after a sip of his coffee, “Morning, babe.”

Bucky smiled over at him, noting his sleep rumpled hair, the thin white tank top and…swim trunks. _Not good._ Bucky thought, hoping that he wasn’t about to have to worry about Tony getting in the water with him just yet.

“Uh, wow. Really? I don’t think I’ve slept this much or this well since cryo,” He muttered with a strained laugh.

But the twin looks of uncomfortable sadness on both Tony and Natasha’s faces were enough to get him to quickly apologize. “_Sorry-_” He muttered. “Bad joke, I know.”

They shook their heads at him and then Steve was waltzing through the door with his own cup of coffee carefully cradled in his hands. He beamed brightly at Bucky as he settled himself down on one of the day beds and Bucky smiled right back, because how could he not?

“Morning, Buck. Sleep alright?” Steve asked lightly and Bucky nodded.

“Yeah, love,” He murmured, watching as Steve got more comfortable on the white cushions and took a sip from his mug.

Steve was already showered and dressed, wearing one of his too-tight white t-shirts and a pair of jogging shorts, with no socks or shoes on. He’d clearly already showered, hair still damp and Bucky assumed he’d gotten up early and already gone for his morning run. He relaxed at the thought and glanced back at Tony who still looked as if he were half asleep as he came and plopped himself down on the top step, feet just beneath the water.

He swallowed hard and forced another smile onto his face at the prospect of Tony perhaps getting into the water with him. He figured he would be safe for a couple more minutes while the genius finished his morning coffee, however.

“So, what’s on the agenda for today? I know you all lead very busy lives, so you won’t be kickin’ around here all afternoon watching me swim about,” Bucky chuckled.

But Natasha just smirked at him. “Actually, my whole day is _wide open_. Think I’d like to relax in here and catch some Sun-speaking of which,” She glanced towards Tony.

Tony smirked over the rim of his cup of coffee and chuckled before whispering something to Jarvis. And then the glass around half of the upper portion of the room was turning from its clearly opaque almost blackness, to practically transparent, filtering in the natural daylight from outside.

And _then_, some of the glass panels were opening to illuminate one of the farthest day beds in a clear invitation for someone to get some Sun. Bucky laughed, eyes widening in surprise. How in the _hell._

“Wow, uh-okay,” He shook his head, clearly impressed.

Tony laughed but then he was leaning back and setting his now empty mug of coffee on one of the glass tables and Bucky realized his time was up, because now Tony was slipping into the water. “Uh, what about you? I’m sure you’re very busy, Tony. Aren’t you?” Bucky asked nervously, trying to hide the apprehension in his voice and ultimately failing.

Tony shrugged and then his shoulders were disappearing beneath the water as he descended the last step. “Not really. I mean, sure there are things I could be designing and stuff or upgrades to the suit I could be making. But I think I’d rather do a bit of discovering today instead,” The genius said with a little half smirk, clearly trying to keep it in check for Bucky’s sake.

“Discovering-“ Bucky repeated dubiously, slowly starting to let himself drift farther back into the pool.

Tony nodded, treading water a bit as he continued to swim towards the brunet. Natasha was trying not to grin too wickedly from somewhere off to their side and Bucky bit at his lower lip to keep from rolling his eyes at the red-head, clearly unimpressed.

“Yeah, I’m curious about your anatomy. I mean, it’s not every day that your boyfriend gets turned into half an octopus,” Tony laughed. “Figured I might as well take advantage of the opportunity to learn about the way you work. You know, _for science_,” Tony said and there was that manic glint to his eyes Bucky had become accustomed with all too well.

“Oh for _chrissakes-_“ Bucky muttered, now really trying to move away from the genius. “No, Tony. I ain’t lettin’ you get near these things. You have no idea what they’re capable of.”

But Tony just rolled his eyes and tried to swim after him. “Oh _come on_. I just want to get a closer look. It’s purely for my own research! You know I’ll never get to go to Asgard and study the Merfolk there,” Tony was pouting, _dear lord_.

But then Steve was rolling his eyes and sighing, “_Tony, _you and I both know that the only research you’re interested in conducting at the moment is whether or not you can get him to…what did you call it? _Ink?_” The blond said with a raised eyebrow and a shake of his head.

Tony couldn’t suppress his grin then and watched as Bucky’s eyebrows practically shot up into his hairline. “What?”

Tony huffed out a breath, annoyed to have his plans thwarted. “I heard you and Clint talking over breakfast,” Steve confessed, stupid smirk set firmly in place. “Didn’t sound very science-y to me.”

Tony cackled then and Natasha and Steve simply rolled their eyes, but Bucky looked absolutely mortified. “It’s a defence mechanism or you know…if you’re startled-“ Tony tried to explain between his laughter.

Bucky rolled his eyes in annoyance, still maintaining a safe distance. “Think he plans on tickling you to see if you’ll ink,” Steve called out and winked at Bucky.

Bucky shook his head in disbelief before turning his attention back to Tony who was now eyeing him as if he was trying to size up how best to get to him. “Don’t even think about it,” Bucky growled and that was it, Tony took off after him.

Unfortunately for the genius, it was way too easy for Bucky to evade him and poor Tony just couldn’t keep up. Within two-minutes he was breathing hard and struggling to keep up. With the way the Arc Reactor was set into his chest, his chest cavity had changed in response. His lung capacity had diminished as well and as such, he couldn’t do a hell of a lot of cardio because he just couldn’t catch his breath well enough.

Steve had likened it to the way asthma worked in a way and they’d always tried their best to make sure that Tony wouldn’t overexert himself and throw him into a breathing fit. Bucky sighed deeply and shoved the still floating air mattress in front of the genius when he seemed to all at once run out of steam.

Tony clutched at it gratefully before hauling himself up onto it, turning to sit with his legs still dangling in the water. He huffed out a few strained breaths before he seemed to calm some and Bucky rolled his eyes.

“You should be more careful, Tony,” Bucky muttered, shaking his head.

“Well, maybe if _someone_ wasn’t so keen on not letting me have a bit of fun, I wouldn’t have to chase him all over the goddamn place and lose my breath,” He huffed, rolling his eyes.

Bucky rolled his own and reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Natasha had moved to sit over on one of the steps away from the ruckus they’d been causing in the water and she glanced back at Steve when the blond reached for the abandoned tablet sitting on the tiles.

He picked it up, giving her a soft smile before he was unlocking the screen and taking a look. But then the argument in the pool continued and she found her gaze drawn back to the pair as Tony started to try and paddle his way after Bucky.

“You’re_ insufferable_,” Bucky chastised and Tony snickered as he continued to try and paddle closer.

But just as Bucky was contemplating going beneath the mattress and toppling Tony off it, Steve was letting out a very startled sort of sound. Instantly, all eyes were turning in his direction and the blond quickly locked the tablet and set it aside, a rising flush taking over his cheeks.

“Uh-“ Steve said, the blush spreading and darkening even more so.

Bucky’s brow furrowed, wondering what had prompted such a reaction, but then his entire body seemed to come alight with a foreign sort of sensation and he let out a strangled grunt. The entire room froze then and Bucky very slowly twisted to see what the hell had happened to cause that overwhelming feeling.

And there was Tony, practically on top of him as he sat at the edge of the mattress, with one of his hands outstretched and tentatively brushing his knuckles against one of Bucky’s tentacles. Bucky’s eyes widened as he watched his own tentacle as it stretched up out of the water seemingly of its own accord and gently brush against the back of Tony’s hand.

He made a sort of uncomfortable whistling sound above the water as the gills on his throat tried to draw in water and Tony’s eyes momentarily flickered towards him at the sound. “Am I hurting you?” He asked quickly, his eyes widening in clear worry.

Bucky shook his head jerkily, unable to form any words for the moment. He was mesmerized by the way his tentacle was still just sort of hovering there and as Tony had momentarily thought about drawing his hand away in case he was hurting him, the tentacle had actually tried to _reach out_ to Tony again.

Tony’s gaze was quickly drawn back towards it once again and Bucky watched in both curiosity and horror as Tony started to gently brush the back of his knuckles against the smooth side of the tentacle. Bucky forced back the groan he wanted to release and instead clenched his jaw shut as tight as he possibly could. He vaguely wondered if anyone could hear the grinding of his teeth over the pounding of his own heart. _Hearts?_ He was pretty sure he read somewhere that octopi had more than one heart…though…he was half-human, so maybe just the one?

The sensations that were running through him at such a gentle touch, however, had his entire body shuddering and twitching and he couldn’t suppress the choked groan he released when Tony suddenly held up his hand in a gesture much like a high-five.

The tentacle jerked then and plastered the underside against the genius’ palm tightly. Tony gasped audibly, but Bucky barely heard it over the pounding of his heart and the blood rushing through his ears. And then the tentacle was sliding, slipping around to grasp Tony’s wrist so carefully. It curled around the bones in his wrist so tentatively and just held on and Tony looked to his boyfriend curiously.

Bucky was shaking terribly as he struggled with the new overwhelming sensations rushing through him and he licked his lips absently as he pushed out yet another soft whistle as his gills struggled for breath. “I-it’s like you’re _humming-_“ Bucky whispered, his voice sounding strangled and foreign to even himself.

Tony blinked at him in confusion. “_Humming?_”

“_Yeah,_” Bucky murmured, licking his lips, his tentacle twitching minutely as he continued to wind more of it around Tony’s forearm, chasing after that delightful feeling.

Tony twitched slightly, a soft laugh escaping him. “_That tickles_-“ He gasped and Bucky seemed to come to his senses all at once and released him.

There was an obscenely wet sucking _pop_ as Bucky withdrew his tentacle from Tony’s skin and the genius grinned cheekily at him at the noise. Bucky’s cheeks heated a bit, but when his gaze dropped to Tony’s wrist and arm, his blush quickly disappeared and was replaced by an almost sickly grey.

“_Jesus Christ-_“ Bucky very nearly cried, jerking his tentacles completely away from Tony before he was reaching up with his flesh and blood hand to grasp Tony’s elbow.

Tony twisted uncomfortably in his grasp and looked down nervously to see what had Bucky so upset. When he got a look at his arm, however, he quickly realized that there were about a dozen or so little red marks that had been left behind by his suckers. They didn’t hurt, not in the least, but Bucky looked absolutely _horrified _by the marks. “Bucky, _relax-“_ Tony said quickly.

“They don’t hurt, it’s just because of the suction cups,” Tony tried to console, pulling his arm away from Bucky’s grasp gently, wanting to hide the marks so Bucky would stop looking at him, _well,_ like _that._

But Bucky was shaking his head furiously, eyes wide in abject horror. “I _hurt_ you, Tony-_oh my God_-I had a hold of your _wrist! _I could have broken your wrist!” Bucky shouted as he scrambled away from Tony.

Tony’s eyes widened and he was immediately slipping off the mattress and trying to swim towards him. “No way!” Tony refuted. “You didn’t hurt me at all. _Bucky, please_,” He said quickly, shaking his head adamantly. “And you _definitely_ wouldn’t have broken my wrist, _stop it-_“ Tony said harshly.

But Bucky wasn’t listening anymore. He was full on panicking as he tried to get away. He was so disoriented and confused by the conflicting emotions he was feeling. The overwhelming sensations he had experienced only moments before still had his brain buzzing uncomfortably and the panic and horror at having hurt Tony and the possibility of hurting him even_ worse_ was mind numbingly frightening.

Just when he realized he’d effectively managed to corner himself against the stairs, with Tony still swimming towards him, two large strong arms were coming around from behind him and holding him tightly. 

“Calm down, Buck,” Steve murmured, lips close to his ear and Bucky realized that he was moving to sit in the water on one of the stairs.

The blond had gotten up without another thought when he’d seen how distressed Bucky was becoming and strode into the water without thinking about it. He was now sitting behind Bucky in the warm water, back against one of the higher steps as he held the brunet tightly in his arms.

Bucky calmed some at having his arms around him and he breathed in deeply beneath the water as Steve pinned him back against his broad chest. He felt so warm and solid at his back and Bucky very nearly melted at the reassurance and calm he was practically exuding.

“You’re okay, Bucky. Tony’s fine, you didn’t hurt him. Okay?” Steve whispered, watching over Bucky’s shoulder as Tony got a bit closer, now standing on the bottom step in front of Bucky. 

The brunet’s dark tentacles were spread out, twitching and curling in front of Tony and Bucky watched in near horror as they seemed to start to reach for him. Panic washed over him at the thought of not being able to control them after all and the fact that they seemed to be interested in Tony sent a wave of absolute_ terror _through him.

He jerked in Steve’s grasp, the unexpected movement forcing Steve to let go of him and Bucky darted away from them both. Just as he turned to dive beneath the water, he saw Tony’s outstretched hand reaching for one of his tentacles and one of his tentacles reaching_ back._

“Stay away from me!” He shouted, dragging himself away from them and the twin looks of heartbreak plastered across their faces as he disappeared, only leaving behind a cloud of black ink in his wake.

Tony stood there in absolute shock as he watched the cloud of ink spread out beneath the water. He slowly started climbing up the stairs, more on autopilot than anything. When he got to the top step, he realized that Steve had pulled himself from the water as well as Natasha. Steve was shaking, clearly upset and conflicted and Natasha was silent, a worried frown marring her features.

The fact that Steve had gone into the water at all had surprised the three of them and now that he was out of it, you could clearly see the panic and fear starting to settle in. But he seemed to be more worried about Bucky’s present state of mind than what he was dealing with to focus on it for too long. Tony reached out to him and Steve drew him in close for a hug. “I-I’m sorry, I just wanted to try and get him more comfortable around us,” He confessed, face smushed against Steve’s chest.

“I know,” Steve consoled, his gaze falling to Natasha as she let her gaze slip over the water to watch as the filtration system washed away the traces of ink.

“He’s probably hiding in the den. He’s going to beat himself up over this,” She sighed.

Steve and Tony both nodded, the genius slowly pulling himself from Steve’s chest. “We have to get him to come up and talk to us,” Steve said gently.

Tony nodded, trying to think of a way to draw him out. “Maybe Jarvis could play with the lights in there, you know, strobe him out or something?” Tony suggested.

Natasha rolled her eyes. “And risk giving him a seizure or something? I don’t think so,” She huffed.

Tony grimaced but nodded. “Someone needs to swim down to him and coax him out,” Steve said then.

Tony nodded, glancing up at him before looking to Natasha. “You’re a good swimmer, Nat.”

Natasha sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Yeah, but I don’t think even I can hold my breath long enough to try and drag him out of there. If he’s all coiled up, he’s going to be hard to get to.”

“Do we have some kind of scuba gear or something to help us breathe underwater or something?” Steve asked curiously.

Tony’s face brightened and he nodded quickly. “In the lab. I’ve got a breathing apparatus we could use,” He said, glancing towards the door to the bedroom. “I’ll be right back,” He breathed before he was darting off out of the room.

Steve and Natasha watched him go, but then Steve was looking back towards the water helplessly. “I feel so _useless_,” He breathed, frustration and anger colouring his tone.

Natasha frowned, reaching up to rest her hand against his shoulder in reassurance. “Don’t say that. It’s okay, Tony will be back in a minute and then I can go in and try and bring him out,” She reassured.

Steve took a deep breath, shaking his head in frustration. “It’s going to take too long. He’s probably freaking out and he’s scared and upset and he’s _all_ _alone down there_,” Steve choked.

Natasha’s heart felt as if it were breaking, knowing that Steve had no doubt experienced those same emotions-albeit under different circumstances-when he’d been plunged into those icy depths so long ago. She swallowed hard, gripping the blond’s shoulder even tighter, but then he was pulling away from her and tearing his shirt off over his head.

Her eyes widened in surprise as she demanded, “What are you doing?”

Steve huffed out a quick breath, tossing his shirt aside. “Bucky needs me and Tony’s going to take too long. I can hold my breath far longer than any of you so I’ll go in and get him,” He explained, his voice strained, but no less adamant.

Natasha eyed him nervously. “Steve, you don’t have to do this. Tony will be back any minute-“ She said, but he’d clearly already made up his mind.

He shook his head, looking down at himself, deciding to leave his shorts on before he was psyching himself up, taking a few sharp breaths before he shook out his hands. “_Be right back-_“ He breathed before he started walking down the steps into the water.

She watched with wide eyes as he shook out his hands once more and then he was taking a much deeper breath and diving off the bottom step and into the now clear water. Just as he disappeared beneath the surface, Tony showed up brandishing a little device in his hand.

“_Here, _I’m back-“ He practically shouted as he came barrelling into the room.

He looked around curiously when he didn’t see Steve anywhere and then looked to Natasha who appeared to be looking into the water uncomfortably. Tony’s heartbeat sped up. “Where’s Steve?” He asked warily, thinking he pretty well already knew the answer to that one.

Natasha swallowed hard and continued to stare into the water. Tony stepped up beside her nervously, hand holding the small masked breather falling down to his side uselessly. They were startled a moment later when Clint popped his head in. When he got a look at his friends, his brow furrowed as he stepped up beside them and joined in looking at the water. 

“So, what did I miss?” He asked curiously, nibbling on his pop-tart.

No one bothered to answer him.

.

_You’re fine, Steve. The water’s warm, not cold. So you’re fine. Stop being such a baby. Bucky needs you right now, so suck it up!_ He continued to mentally shout at himself as he started swimming in earnest towards the den they’d built. He tried to push past his own panic at being completely submerged beneath the water and concentrate on holding his breath and finding Bucky, but it was damn hard. The second he caught sight of the alcove, he was swimming as fast as he could towards it, though.

When he reached the opening of the den, he peered inside and found it to be pitch black. He glanced up to where he knew the lights to be and he hastily swiped his hands over them in an attempt to shed some light inside. They came on immediately and his eyes widened a bit when he could finally see Bucky curled up at the far end of the den, pressed right back against the wall. He shook his head and carefully started towards him.

Bucky had all of his tentacles wrapped tightly around himself and Steve couldn’t see even an inch of his skin. He fought with himself for a moment as to how to go about getting his attention, but settled on just being an ass. It usually worked well for him.

He poked the mass of tentacles roughly and all that seemed to do was get Bucky to draw them even tighter around himself. Steve scowled and then tried reaching out with both hands, sticking them between the mass of limbs in an attempt to grab onto him and get his attention.

_That _seemed to make Bucky twitch and then the brunet was letting out an uncomfortable grunt. Steve’s eyes narrowed and he let his hands grab at one of the tentacles and just _squeezed_.

The strangled sound Bucky made then was enough to get Steve to relent, but then Bucky was wrenching free all at once, his tentacles uncurling as he shot upright and _shouted_ at Steve. “_What the fuck are-_“ Bucky started to yell, only to cut himself off abruptly when he realized it was _Steve_ who was poking and prodding at him.

His eyes widened in obvious surprise, but then the blond was looking at him in a mixture of shock and panic as some of his air left him at the surprise of hearing Bucky _yell_…_under water_. Bucky’s eyes widened in a panic at watching Steve struggle to hold his breath. And all at once, Bucky darted towards him, grabbing Steve under his arms with both of his hands as he hauled him back out of the den and swam as fast as he could towards the surface.

When they broke through the surface, Bucky shouted a string of obscenities as he hauled Steve out of the water at the stairs. He shoved the blond back against the tile above the water as he crowded up between his knees as Steve’s feet rested on one of the lower steps.

Steve dragged in a desperate heaving breath as he twisted onto his side, propping himself up onto his elbow as he spluttered, attempting to find his breath again. Bucky braced himself up on his hands on either side of Steve’s sides, glaring down at him hotly.

“You _goddamn reckless idiot!_” Bucky shouted, cheeks flushing in anger. “What the fuck do you think you were doing!?” He yelled in absolute disbelief, his anger very nearly consuming him at the thought of Steve putting himself in such a dangerous position.

Steve heaved in another breath before he flopped back onto his elbows, looking up at Bucky with a rueful sort of smile. “Was tryin’ ta’ save your sorry ass from yourself, you jerk,” Steve breathed, his chest still rising and falling rapidly as he continued to get his breath back.

Bucky’s face fell and he shook his head in disbelief. “Yeah, _well-_“ Bucky shot back, running out of steam. “More like I had to go and save your sorry heavy ass from your dumb-ass self, you punk,” Bucky muttered, a bit of amusement colouring his voice.

Steve grinned wryly at him. “You callin’ me fat?” He asked teasingly.

Bucky just rolled his eyes, huffing as he shook his head. He shoved Steve in the chest with his metal hand and he let out a slight _oomph_ but didn’t budge much. “You’re a real punk, you know that?” Bucky said in exasperation, still watching him carefully, making sure he was all right.

“So I’ve been told,” He sighed, his gaze never leaving Bucky’s, a soft smile playing on his lips.

Bucky sighed, but the sound came out wrong, a bit of a wheezed whistle. The sound drew Steve’s attention and he glanced down to see that Bucky was almost completely out of the water. Not only were the gills on his neck visible, but so were the slits on either side of his ribs. His tentacles were barely even in the water either, just gripping the stairs as he practically loomed over top of Steve. Some were even resting against Steve’s legs, now that the blond had a moment to process the gentle caresses he’d been feeling. 

He swallowed hard, gaze flickering back up to meet Bucky’s deep grey-blue eyes. Steve could tell he was struggling to breathe now, the greyish tone to his skin starting to turn ashen. He shifted beneath him, worried and sat up a bit more, reaching out and pressing a hand gently against Bucky’s chest, right above his heart.

“You should get back into the water, Buck,” He whispered, giving him a gentle push.

Bucky’s face twisted a bit, but he didn’t resist letting Steve push him back into the pool. Steve stayed where he was, now sitting up on the top step as he watched Bucky sink back beneath the water to his shoulders.

“_Well-_“ Clint suddenly interrupted, drawing both Steve and Bucky’s attention.

They were both surprised to see Natasha, Clint and Tony staring at them in open-mouthed shock, curiosity and amusement.

“What the fuck just happened?” The archer asked curiously.

Natasha rolled her eyes and smacked him upside the head. “_Ouch-_“ He winced, cowering a little, but then she sighed and hugged him to her side.

“You’re such an idiot, Barton. Couldn’t even let them have a second?” Natasha sighed.

Clint frowned but shrugged, not knowing what else to say really. Tony huffed out a breath before he came and sat down next to Steve. “What _did_ happen exactly?” Tony prompted, looking back and forth between Steve and Bucky curiously.

“Punk lost his breath-“ Bucky started, rolling his eyes.

Steve scowled. “Would have been fine if you hadn’t _shouted_ at me _under water_, if I might add,” He huffed.

Bucky rolled his eyes and couldn’t help notice that Tony was perking up. “You can _talk_ under_ water_?”

Bucky frowned, but shrugged a bit. “I guess-“

“You’re kidding me,” Both Tony and Clint said in unison.

Bucky sighed, rolling his eyes a bit, but then Tony was trying to get back in the water and Steve grabbed his arm, effectively stopping him. “_Just a sec-_“ Steve said quickly. “Remember how this went the last time?” He reminded, glancing between him and Bucky carefully.

Bucky shied away then and Tony frowned, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he tried to get Bucky’s attention. “_Look, _I’m sorry, Bucky,” Tony apologized. “I didn’t mean to upset you and I’m sorry I made you ink-but you _completely_ overreacted,” Tony said with a frown, only to become distracted when Clint’s absolutely gleeful laughter reached their ears.

“You actually made him _ink!?_” He shouted incredulously.

Natasha, Steve, Tony…and Bucky gave him their best murder faces at his exclamation and the archer shrank back, muttering apologies. Bucky huffed, drawing Tony’s attention once again. “I didn’t overreact,” He muttered angrily.

“Yes, you did,” Tony snipped back and Bucky glowered.

“You don’t know what these things are capable of. I could have really hurt you by accident, Tony. I _did_ hurt you. You don’t _think-_“ Bucky said in frustration.

Tony frowned and shook his head. “You didn’t hurt me, so stop it with that.”

Bucky shook his head adamantly. “I clearly don’t have as much control over them as I thought I did,” He confessed and Tony’s brows furrowed. 

“What do you mean?” He asked curiously.

“I _mean_, I guess they’re just like extra arms, so theoretically I should be able to tell them what to do-“ He started.

“_But?_” Tony prompted.

“But…when I found you touching one of them, I don’t even know how it had managed to get close to you without my say so,” He told him nervously.

Tony blinked, mulling that over. “And then, when you were trying to reach for me when I was…” Bucky started, trying to find the right word.

“Running away-“ Tony filled in for him.

Bucky huffed, but nodded, only just avoiding rolling his eyes. “It was reaching right back for you, what if I had pulled you down with me?” Bucky whispered nervously, his heart clenching painfully in his chest at the very thought.

Tony frowned then, shifting uncomfortably. “I think you’d have realized you’d had me attached and come back to the surface, so just _relax._”

Bucky muttered something under his breath that none could hear exactly and Tony frowned. “What was that?”

Bucky rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest and looking very much like a petulant child in that instant. “Stop telling me to relax. I’m being the only reasonable one here.”

Tony rolled his eyes, making a very ugly face and Steve realized he knew he needed to intervene before this got really ugly. “Okay, boys,” Steve said placatingly. “I think we need to discuss this like adults and not let our tempers get the better of us.”

Bucky frowned but nodded, scrubbing his flesh and blood hand over his face as he came a tad closer towards the steps. Tony muttered something under his breath but nodded, agreeing all the same. “Okay, good,” Steve said with a heavy breath, glancing over at Natasha as she dragged Clint to join her in sitting not far from them on the steps.

“So, here’s what we’re going to do,” Steve said gently. “Tony, you’re going to be patient and mindful and show Bucky some _respect_ when dealing with him. You’re not going to rush in headfirst and poke and prod him or whatever else you had in mind,” Steve told him firmly.

Tony’s face contorted. “I wasn’t-“ He started defensively.

“You were going to tickle me until you got me to ink-_you little shit-_“ Bucky muttered, but he was smiling a little.

Tony rolled his eyes and Steve sighed in annoyance, glancing over towards Bucky. “And you, Buck, are going to get used to the idea of us touching you and getting close to you again. Because we’ve worked way too hard to get you to be comfortable with just friendly touches for you to revert back to being averse to everyone’s touches,” Steve concluded.

Bucky shrank back beneath the water a little, still hovering at the bottom step. He was pouting something fierce and Steve sighed. “We’ll be careful, Buck. But we can’t just let you curl in on yourself and ruin all the progress you’ve made,” Steve tried to console.

Bucky frowned, but nodded reluctantly. “I know, you’re right. I’m just scared I’m going to hurt one of you,” He whispered.

Steve’s gaze softened. “We’ll be really careful. You’ll tell us if you’re uncomfortable and we’ll do the same, all right?”

Bucky nodded and then looked between Steve and Tony before settling on the genius. “You’ll tell me, right?” Bucky said nervously, his gaze flickering down to where he could still see the faded pink marks his suckers had left on Tony’s wrist and forearm.

Tony’s face pinched as he nodded quickly. “They don’t hurt, _honest_. But yes, I’ll tell you.”

Bucky nodded reluctantly, but then Clint was leaning over in an attempt to see the marks and he snickered. “Kind of look like hickies.”

They collectively rolled their eyes and then Natasha was standing up and dragging him out of the room. “Sorry-_sorry!_” He shouted and Natasha muttered apologizes as well as she dragged him towards the elevator.

“We’ll see you guys later when he’s had some time to settle,” Natasha told them with a very put upon sigh.

Bucky just chuckled before he let himself lean against the stairs, looking up at his boyfriends as Clint and Natasha could be heard getting into the elevator. They turned back to him once the quiet settled over the room and Bucky watched them nervously as they made no move to speak or do anything, really.

Tony seemed to fidget after a minute, shifting as his hands tugged at his bright red swim-shorts. Steve sighed then, looking into the water between them and then back down at his soaked shorts.

“I’m going to go change real quick, you two, just…play nice for five-minutes. _Please?_” Steve pleaded.

Bucky and Tony nodded and watched as Steve stood and headed off towards the bedroom to change. “Can’t believe the idiot actually came in the water for me,” Bucky muttered after a beat, feeling guilty as all hell.

Tony shrugged, pushing out a breath as he turned his attention back to Bucky. “Nat said he was really worried. We all were. You know he’d do anything for you. So would I.”

Bucky looked up at him then, searching his face for a moment before he nodded. “I know, doll,” He whispered. “And I’d do anything to keep you safe.”

Tony smiled tentatively then, letting out a soft sigh. “So, wanna let me hear you talk under water?” He asked with a shrug, trying to play it as nonchalantly as possible.

It didn’t work. Bucky smiled at him, noting the interested gleam in his eyes and the hopefulness in his voice. He chuckled softly before nodding, drawing away back into the pool. “Come on then,” He urged and Tony didn’t waste any time getting into the water.

**Author's Note:**

> Come chat with me on Discord! starbucksjunkie#9171
> 
> Don't have Discord? Come talk to me on Tumblr! [ko-fiandfanfiction](www.tumblr.com/blog/layora88)


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